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DEMOCRATS TACKLE NEW IOWA PROJECT Some of Iowa’s best Democratic thinkers have gathered hundreds of volunteers to answer the question of whether or not Iowa can turn blue. WORDS BY DARBY HOLROYD | ILLUSTRATION BY LILA JOHNSON
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020 was a tough year for Iowa Democrats. It began with a massive caucus mishap. It ended with Republicans flipping six seats in the statehouse and two of the state’s four seats in the U.S. House. Donald Trump won by slightly less than 10% of the vote. After reviewing the election results, rural counties continued to trend deeply red while urban counties mostly stayed blue, but did see an increase in votes for Republicans. Politico’s election data ultimately revealed a deep divide between rural and urban counties, demonstrating that there was little organizing done by Democrats in rural areas. KCCI showed that Trump outperformed his 2016 numbers in almost every single rural county. With this in mind, it was clear to the Iowa Democratic Party that their losses were heavy in rural areas, especially when
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comparing them to who was elected in urban areas, such as Polk County (the only blue U.S. House seat from Iowa). As painful as it was for loyal Democrats to read the statistics and look at electoral maps, it forces the party to delve deeper into what went wrong and what they can do to ensure a victory in the next election cycle. In order to ensure that this would not happen again, the New Iowa Project was formed. According to the Iowa Census, less than 10% of Iowans are Black, Indigenous, or people of color. Over 11% of Iowans are at or below the poverty line. It also states that around 59% of the state population is between the ages of 18 and 65, the biggest chunk of unreliable voters. This information is crucial when studying what the New Iowa Project is set to tackle, for people
