Presidential election in Iowa, 2020

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Iowa
2020 presidential election

* * *

Democratic caucus: February 3, 2020
Democratic winner: Pete Buttigieg (delegates), Bernie Sanders (popular vote)

* * *

Republican caucus: February 3, 2020
Republican winner: Donald Trump

* * *

Electoral College: Six votes
2020 winner: Donald Trump (R)
2016 winner: Donald Trump (R)
2012 winner: Barack Obama (D)

* * *

Presidential election by state, 2020

President Donald Trump (R) won the presidential election in Iowa on November 3, 2020. Iowa was one of 13 battleground states. Former Vice President Joe Biden (D) won the presidential election with 306 electoral votes to Trump's 232 electoral votes.

The first presidential nominating event of the 2020 election cycle took place in Iowa on February 3, 2020. Both the Democratic and Republican parties held caucuses. Given its first-in-the-nation status, Iowa received increased attention from both campaigning candidates and the media.

Trump won the Republican caucus, earning 97 percent of the vote. Trump won 39 delegates and former Gov. Bill Weld won one.[1]

The results of the Iowa Democratic caucuses were initially delayed due to problems with a new mobile application developed for the caucuses and tabulation errors. Following a partial recanvass and recount, the Iowa Democratic Party projected on February 27, 2020, that former Mayor Pete Buttigieg would receive 14 pledged delegates, Sen. Bernie Sanders 12, Sen. Elizabeth Warren 8, Biden 6, and Sen. Amy Klobuchar 1.[2][3]

Since 1976, only one Democrat or Republican has finished outside of the top three candidates in Iowa—Sen. John McCain (R) in 2008—and went on to win the party’s nomination.[4][5]

Iowa held a general election for president of the United States on November 3, 2020, along with 49 other states and the District of Columbia. In the last 10 presidential elections, the Democratic candidate won the state in six elections and the Republican candidate won the state four times. Over those 10 elections, Iowa has voted for the eventual winner eight times.[6]

This page includes the following sections:

* Candidates and election results
* Polls
* Pivot Counties in Iowa
* PredictIt markets
* Campaign events in Iowa
* Government response to coronavirus pandemic in Iowa
* Democratic caucus
* Republican caucus
* Candidate filing requirements
* Historical election trends
* Presidential election by state

## Contents

* 1 Candidates and election results
* 1.1 General election
* 1.2 Primary election
* 1.2.1 Democrats
* 1.2.2 Republicans
* 2 Polls in Iowa
* 3 Pivot Counties in Iowa
* 4 PredictIt market in Iowa
* 5 Campaign events in Iowa
* 5.1 Biden in Iowa
* 5.2 Trump in Iowa
* 6 Government response to coronavirus pandemic in Iowa
* 6.1 Summary of changes to election dates and procedures
* 6.2 Frequently asked questions
* 6.3 Additional resources
* 7 Democratic caucus
* 7.1 Campaign responses to delayed results
* 7.2 Speeches from candidates
* 7.3 Polls
* 7.4 PredictIt market in Iowa
* 7.5 Campaign events in Iowa
* 7.6 Endorsements
* 7.7 Democratic campaign ads in Iowa
* 8 Republican caucus
* 9 Candidate filing requirements
* 9.1 Presidential primary candidates
* 9.2 Independent presidential candidates
* 10 Presidential statewide margins of victory of 5 percentage points or fewer, 1948-2016
* 11 Historical election trends
* 11.1 Presidential election voting record in Iowa, 1900-2016
* 11.2 Presidential election voting record in Iowa, 2000-2016
* 11.3 Historical election results
* 11.3.1 2016
* 11.3.1.1 General election
* 11.3.1.2 Primary election
* 11.3.2 2012
* 11.3.3 2008
* 12 Voter turnout
* 12.1 Turnout statewide
* 12.2 Turnout in Pivot Counties
* 13 State profile
* 13.1 Partisan data
* 14 Presidential election by state
* 15 See also
* 16 Footnotes

## Candidates and election results[edit]

### General election[edit]

#####  Presidential election results in Iowa, 2020

Candidate/Running mate

Popular votes

Electoral votes

|
|
|
|

✔ |

| Donald Trump/Mike Pence (R) |

53.1

| 897,672 | 6

| Joe Biden/Kamala D. Harris (D)  |

44.9

| 759,061 | 0

| Jo Jorgensen/Spike Cohen (L)  |

1.2

| 19,637 | 0

| Kanye West/Michelle Tidball (Unaffiliated)  |

0.2

| 3,210 | 0

| Howie Hawkins/Angela Nicole Walker (G)  |

0.2

| 3,075 | 0

| Don Blankenship/William Mohr (Constitution Party)  |

0.1

| 1,707 | 0

| Roque De La Fuente/Darcy Richardson (Alliance Party)  |

0.1

| 1,082 | 0

| Ricki Sue King/Dayna Chandler (Genealogy Know Your Family History Party)  |

0.0

| 546 | 0

| Brock Pierce/Karla Ballard (Unaffiliated)  |

0.0

| 544 | 0
| Other write-in votes |

0.3

| 4,337 | 0

* * *

Incumbents are bolded and underlined

| Total votes: 1,690,871

|
|

### Primary election[edit]

####  Democrats[edit]

####  Republicans[edit]

##### Iowa Republican presidential caucus on February 3, 2020

Candidate

Votes

Pledged delegates

|
|
|
|

| Donald Trump |

97.1

| 31,464 | 39

| Bill Weld |

1.3

| 426 | 1

| Joe Walsh |

1.1

| 348 | 0
| Other |

0.5

| 151 | 0

* * *

Source

| Total votes: 32,389 • Total pledged delegates: 40

|
|

## Polls in Iowa[edit]

## Pivot Counties in Iowa[edit]

See also: Election results, 2020: Pivot Counties' margins of victory analysis

Pivot Counties are the 206 counties nationwide Ballotpedia identified as having voted for Barack Obama (D) in the 2008 and 2012 presidential elections and Donald Trump (R) in 2016. Media and political observers sometimes refer to these counties as swing counties.

Ballotpedia defines Pivot Counties Trump won in 2020 as Retained Pivot Counties and those Joe Biden (D) won as Boomerang Pivot Counties.

Trump won 181 Retained Pivot Counties across 32 states to Biden's 25 Boomerang Pivot Counties across 16 states. Trump's median margin of victory was 13.2 percentage points in those 181 counties, while Biden's median margin of victory was 3.4 percentage points among the 25 he won.[7][8]

In 2020, Iowa had 31 Retained Pivot Counties—the largest number in a battleground state—six solid Democratic counties, and 62 solid Republican counties.

Trump received 53.1% of the vote in Iowa to Biden's 44.9%. Both candidates received a larger share of the vote compared to 2016 with a 1.9 percentage point increase for Trump and a 3.2 point increase for Biden, narrowing Trump's margin by 1.2 percentage points. Votes for third party and independent candidates decreased by 5.1 percentage points, the second-largest decrease in any battleground state containing a Pivot County.

Trump expanded his margin in Retained Pivot Counties by 2.7 percentage points. Biden expanded his margin in Solid Democratic counties by 3.9 percentage points and narrowed Trump's margin in Solid Republican counties by 1.0.

The table below compares margins in the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections. Percentages show the share of the vote received by a candidate. Margins and changes are shown as changes in percentage points. The overall winner of a given category can be found under the "2020" data. The "Percentage point change" section shows changes in vote share and in margins. Figures were calculated by combining the vote totals across all counties of a given category and may not equal 100% due to rounding. Click [show] beneath the table to view vote totals.

Iowa presidential election results by county category, 2016-2020

Year  | #  | 2016 | 2020 | Percentage point change
Clinton | Trump | Third party | Margin | Biden | Trump | Third party | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Third party | Margin
Retained | 31 | 40.3% | 52.9% | 6.8% | R+12.6 | 41.4% | 56.7% | 1.9% | R+15.3 | +1.1 | +3.8 | -4.9 | R+2.7
Solid Dem. | 6 | 52.2% | 39.7% | 8.1% | D+12.5 | 57.0% | 40.7% | 2.3% | D+16.4 | +4.8 | +1.0 | -5.8 | D+3.9
Solid Repub. | 62 | 30.7% | 63.1% | 6.2% | R+32.4 | 33.4% | 64.8% | 1.8% | R+31.4 | +2.7 | +1.7 | -4.5 | D+1.0
All | 99 | 41.7% | 51.1% | 7.1% | R+9.4 | 44.9% | 53.1% | 2.0% | R+8.2 | +3.2 | +1.9 | -5.1 | D+1.2
Iowa presidential election vote totals by county category, 2016-2020

Year  | #  | 2016 | 2020 | Change
Clinton | Trump | Third party | Margin | Biden | Trump | Third party | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Third party | Margin
Retained | 31 | 159,738 | 209,508 | 26,910 | R+49,770 | 173,221 | 237,256 | 8,021 | R+64,035 | +13,483 | +27,748 | -18,889 | R+14,265
Solid Dem. | 6 | 327,321 | 249,009 | 50,555 | D+78,312 | 388,049 | 276,752 | 15,493 | D+111,297 | +60,728 | +27,743 | -35,062 | D+32,985
Solid Repub. | 62 | 166,610 | 342,466 | 33,914 | R+175,856 | 197,791 | 383,664 | 10,624 | R+185,873 | +31,181 | +41,198 | -23,290 | R+10,017
All | 99 | 653,669 | 800,983 | 111,379 | R+147,314 | 759,061 | 897,672 | 34,138 | R+138,611 | +105,392 | +96,689 | -77,241 | D+8,703

Solid Republican counties accounted for 42.6% of Trump's new votes and Solid Democratic counties accounted for 57.6% of Biden's. Retained Pivot Counties made up 26.4% of Trump's vote total and 22.8% of Biden's.

The table below shows how much of a candidate's vote total came from a particular county category. Data under "New votes, 2020" shows the percentage of a candidate's new votes by county category compared to 2016 vote totals.

Percentage of votes by county category in Iowa's 2016 and 2020 presidential elections

Year  | #  | 2016 | 2020 | New votes, 2020
Clinton | Trump | Biden | Trump | Democratic
votes | Republican
votes
Total votes | 99 | 653,669 | 800,983 | 759,061 | 897,672 | +105,392 | +96,689
Retained | 31 | 24.4% | 26.2% | 22.8% | 26.4% | 12.8% | 28.7%
Solid Dem. | 6 | 50.1% | 31.1% | 51.1% | 30.8% | 57.6% | 28.7%
Solid Repub. | 62 | 25.5% | 42.8% | 26.1% | 42.7% | 29.6% | 42.6%

## PredictIt market in Iowa[edit]

See also: PredictIt markets in the 2020 presidential election

What is a PredictIt market?

PredictIt is an online political futures market in which users purchase shares relating to the outcome of political events using real money. Each event, such as an election, has a number of contracts associated with it, each correlating to a different outcome. For instance, an election contested between four candidates would be represented by eight separate contracts, with each contract correlating to a particular candidate winning or losing the election.

The price of a share in each individual contract rises and falls based on market demand. Once the event's outcome is decided, holders of shares that correlate with the correct outcome receive a $1 payout for each share they held.

For example, a user buys 10 shares at 20 cents each in a presidential primary saying Candidate A will win. If Candidate A wins the election, the user earns $10. If the candidate loses, the user earns no money and loses his original $2 investment.

Why do PredictIt markets matter?

Services such as PredictIt are being used to gain insight into the likely outcome of elections. Microsoft Research economist David Rothschild argues that they are better suited to the task than polls: "I can create a poll that can mimic everything about a prediction market...except markets have a way of incentivizing you to come back at 2 a.m. and update your answer."[9][10][11]

## Campaign events in Iowa[edit]

This section features clips of Biden and Trump at presidential campaign events in Iowa during the 2020 general election.

### Biden in Iowa[edit]

Biden in Des Moines, October 30, 2020

### Trump in Iowa[edit]

Trump in Dubuque, November 1, 2020

Trump in Des Moines, October 14, 2020

## Government response to coronavirus pandemic in Iowa[edit]

### Summary of changes to election dates and procedures[edit]

Iowa modified its absentee/mail-in voting procedures for the November 3, 2020, general election as follows:

* Absentee/mail-in voting: Absentee ballot application forms were sent to all registered voters in the general election.

For a full timeline about election modifications made in response to the COVID-19 outbreak, click here.

### Frequently asked questions[edit]

See also: Ballotpedia's 2020 Election Help Desk: Presidential election

The 2020 election took place against a backdrop of uncertainty. Our readers had questions about what to expect in elections at all levels of government, from the casting of ballots to the certification of final results. Ballotpedia's 2020 Election Help Desk was designed to answer those questions. Ballotpedia is in the process of compiling and answering frequently asked questions related to the 2020 elections. Questions related to this election will be available soon.

### Additional resources[edit]

* Documenting Iowa's path to recovery from the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, 2020-2021
* Government responses to and political effects of the coronavirus pandemic, 2020 (Iowa)
* School responses in Iowa to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic during the 2020-2021 school year
* Debate in Iowa over responses to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, 2020
* Changes to election dates, procedures, and administration in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, 2020

## Democratic caucus[edit]

See also: Democratic presidential nomination, 2020 and Aftermath of Iowa Democratic caucuses, 2020

HIGHLIGHTS

* Iowa held its Democratic primary caucus on February 3, 2020.

* Iowa had 49 delegates comprised of 41 pledged delegates and eight superdelegates. Delegate allocation was proportional.

* The Democratic caucus was open, meaning any registered voters were able to vote in the election.

Former Vice President Joe Biden (D) was formally nominated as the Democratic presidential nominee at the 2020 Democratic National Convention on August 18, 2020.[12] The convention was originally scheduled to take place July 13-16, 2020.[13] Organizers postponed the event in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Prior to the national convention, individual state caucuses and primaries were held to allocate convention delegates. These delegates vote at the convention to select the nominee. In 2020, a Democratic presidential candidate needed support from 1,991 delegates to secure the nomination.

With the plurality of pledged delegates, Biden became the presumptive Democratic nominee on April 8, 2020, after Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) suspended his presidential campaign.[14] Biden crossed the delegate threshold necessary to win the nomination on June 5, 2020.[15]

Biden announced U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris (D) as his running mate on August 11, 2020. Harris is the first Black woman to appear on a major party's ticket in the United States.[16]

The Iowa Democratic Party announced on January 16, 2020, that it would release three sets of election results: the number of state delegate equivalents each candidate received, the first raw vote of caucusgoers, and the final raw vote that features only viable candidates who crossed the 15 percent threshold after caucusgoers realigned their votes through the caucus process. In the past, only the state delegate equivalent were made public.[17]

State delegate equivalents are not state delegates. They are estimates of how many state delegates a candidate will have at the state convention. During caucus night, each viable candidate is allocated a number of county delegates. This number is then weighted to determine the state delegate equivalent.[18]

The release of all three results were delayed following quality control issues:

“  | We found inconsistencies in the reporting of three sets of results. In addition to the tech systems being used to tabulate results, we are also using photos of results and a paper trail to validate that all results match and ensure that we have confidence and accuracy in the numbers we report. This is simply a reporting issue, the app did not go down and this is not a hack or an intrusion. The underlying data and paper trail is sound and will simply take time to further report the results.[19] | ”

|
|

—Mandy McClure, Iowa Democratic Party communications director (February 3, 2020)[20]

### Campaign responses to delayed results[edit]

* Dana Remus, general counsel to Joe Biden: "We appreciate that you plan to brief the campaigns momentarily on these issues, and we plan to participate. However, we believe that the campaigns deserve full explanations and relevant information regarding the methods of quality control you are employing, and an opportunity to respond, before any official results are released. We look forward to hearing from you promptly."[21]

* Deval Patrick: "One candidate is calling the results into question because he apparently didn’t do well. Another is declaring victory without any votes being confirmed. The way to beat Donald Trump isn’t to act like Donald Trump. Our party and our country deserve better."[22]

* Tulsi Gabbard: "Thousands of people turned out to cast the first votes of this presidential primary in the Iowa Caucuses last night. Unfortunately, the voices of the people of Iowa have yet to be heard as the vote count continues, leaving voters frustrated and without the transparency and integrity in this process that they expect and deserve."[23]

* The Bernie Sanders campaign released its internal data from 40 percent of precincts early February 4, 2020. Senior adviser Jeff Weaver said, "We recognize that this does not replace the full data from the Iowa Democratic Party, but we believe firmly that our supporters worked too hard for too long to have the results of that work delayed."

* Roger Lau, campaign manager for Elizabeth Warren: "Every second that passes undermines the process a little bit."[24]

### Speeches from candidates[edit]

Presidential candidates typically give speeches to celebrate a victory, show momentum in the race, or highlight overperformance in the Iowa caucuses. Even without election results available, candidates delivered speeches about the election and their standing.[25] The following section includes quotes from speeches given in Iowa on February 3, 2020:

* Joe Biden said, "Looks like it’s going to be a long night, but I’m feeling good. ... The Iowa Democratic Party is working to this result—get them straight—and I want to make sure they are very careful in their deliberations. From our indications, it's going to be close. We're going to walk out of here with our share of delegates. We don't know exactly what it is yet, but we feel good about where we are. So, it's on to New Hampshire, Nevada, South Carolina, and well-beyond. We're in this for the long haul."[26]

* Pete Buttigieg said, "Tonight, an improbable hope became an undeniable reality. So we don’t know all of the results, but we know that by the time it is all said and done, Iowa you have shocked the nation. By all indications, we are going on to New Hampshire victorious.”[27]

* Amy Klobuchar said, "You probably heard we don't know the results, but I did not want to let another minute go by without thanking all of you. We know there's delays, but we know one thing: we are punching above our weight. ... You know we have beaten the odds every step of the way."[28]

* Elizabeth Warren said, "It is too close to call, so I'm just going to tell you what I do know. ... This race started right here in Iowa, but from tomorrow it will run from ocean to ocean, east to New Hampshire and then west to Nevada and then down to South Carolina."[29]

* Bernie Sanders said, "Let me begin by stating that I have a strong feeling that at some point the results will be announced. And when those results are announced, I have a good feeling we're going to be doing very, very well here in Iowa."[30]

* Andrew Yang said, "I got to say, I’m a numbers guy. We’re still waiting on numbers from tonight. We’re all looking around and being like, 'What’s the math? What’s the math?' And this is one of those situations where we can essentially just throw some algebra letters up on the wall and being like, 'I guess we’ll project onto these new letters for now what the numbers are going to be.' But the math that I care most about is the fact that this movement has become something that has already shocked the political world, and it’s going to keep on going from here. It’s going to keep on growing from here."[31]

### Polls[edit]

### PredictIt market in Iowa[edit]

See also: PredictIt markets in the 2020 presidential election

### Campaign events in Iowa[edit]

Ballotpedia compiled the number of days each Democratic presidential candidate has spent in the four early primary states—Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, and Nevada—from January 1, 2019, through February 29, 2020.

Information about the candidates' schedules was sourced from The Des Moines Register, NBC Boston/NECN, The Post & Courier, The Nevada Independent.[32][33][34][35]

The following table shows the number of days each candidate spent in each early primary state between January 1, 2019, and February 29, 2020. Candidates marked with an asterisk did not have complete information available for one or more states.

### Endorsements[edit]

The following table shows noteworthy endorsements from this state. Individual endorsers tracked include current DNC members, governors and other state executives, members of Congress, mayors of large cities, state legislative majority and minority leaders, and former presidents and vice presidents.

Endorsements from Democratic officials in Iowa

Name | Office or position | Party | Candidate | Date
Abby Finkenauer | U.S. representative | Democratic Party | Joe Biden | January 2, 2020 source
Cindy Axne | U.S. representative | Democratic Party | Joe Biden | January 25, 2020 source
Dave Loebsack | U.S. representative | Democratic Party | Joe Biden | March 12, 2020 source
Dave Loebsack | U.S. representative | Democratic Party | Pete Buttigieg | January 12, 2020 source
Jan Bauer | DNC member | Democratic Party | Steve Bullock | June 26, 2019 source
Janet Petersen | State minority leader | Democratic Party | Elizabeth Warren | January 18, 2020 source
Mark Smith | DNC member | Democratic Party | Joe Biden | January 26, 2020 source
Michael L. Fitzgerald | State treasurer | Democratic Party | Elizabeth Warren | September 18, 2019 source
Sandy Opstvedt | DNC member |  | Joe Biden | January 21, 2020 source
Thomas John Miller | Iowa Attorney General | Democratic Party | Joe Biden | January 13, 2020 source
Thomas John Miller | Attorney general | Democratic Party | Steve Bullock | May 16, 2019 source

### Democratic campaign ads in Iowa[edit]

This section provides a sampling of campaign ads released in Iowa, according to a FiveThirtyEight study of ad buys in the state:

* Michael Bennet: "Tough Problems"
* Joe Biden: "Character"
* Michael Bloomberg: "Wild Attacks"
* Pete Buttigieg: "Sun Comes Up"
* John Delaney: "The Truth"
* Tulsi Gabbard: "Your Interests"
* Amy Klobuchar: "What It Takes"
* Bernie Sanders: "Strive"
* Tom Steyer: "School Lunch"
* Elizabeth Warren: "John and David"
* Andrew Yang: "Mom"

## Republican caucus[edit]

See also: Republican presidential nomination, 2020

HIGHLIGHTS

* Iowa held its Republican primary caucus on February 3, 2020.

* Iowa had an estimated 40 delegates. Delegate allocation was proportional.

* The Republican caucus was open, meaning any registered voters were able to vote in the election.

* Since Iowa holds a presidential caucus rather than a primary, candidates are not required to meet a filing deadline with the state. Candidate lists and election results will be posted here on February 3, 2020, following the caucus.

The Republican Party selected President Donald Trump as its presidential nominee at the 2020 Republican National Convention, which was held from August 24-27, 2020.[36]

Prior to the national convention, individual state caucuses and primaries were held to allocate convention delegates. These delegates vote at the convention to select the nominee. Trump crossed the delegate threshold necessary to win the nomination—1,276 delegates—on March 17, 2020.

George H.W. Bush (R) was the last incumbent to face a serious primary challenge, defeating political commentator Pat Buchanan in 1992. He was also the last president to lose his re-election campaign. Franklin Pierce (D) was the first and only elected president to lose his party's nomination in 1856.[37]

Sixteen U.S. presidents—approximately one-third—have won two consecutive elections.

For an overview of the 2016 presidential election in Iowa, click here.

## Candidate filing requirements[edit]

See also: Ballot access requirements for presidential candidates in Iowa

The tables below detail filing requirements for presidential candidates in Iowa in the 2020 election cycle. For additional information on candidate ballot access requirements in Iowa, click here.

### Presidential primary candidates[edit]

Note that political parties in Iowa conduct caucuses instead of presidential preference primaries. As such, no filing requirements apply for partisan candidates.

### Independent presidential candidates[edit]

Filing requirements for independent candidates in Iowa, 2020

State  | Signatures required  | Signature formula  | Filing fee  | Filing fee formula  | Filing deadline  | Source
Iowa | 1,500 | Fixed by statute | N/A | N/A | 8/14/2020 | Source

## Presidential statewide margins of victory of 5 percentage points or fewer, 1948-2016[edit]

See also: Presidential statewide margins of victory of 5 percentage points or fewer, 1948-2016

The following map shows the number of times, in presidential elections held between 1948 and 2016, that the margin of victory was 5 percentage points or fewer in each state.

* Wisconsin was the state with the most frequently narrow margins during this time period, appearing on the list in 10 presidential elections.
* Five states appeared eight times: Florida, Missouri, Nevada, Ohio, and Pennsylvania.
* The state with the narrowest margin of victory was Florida in 2000 at 537 votes or one-hundredth of a percentage point.

## Historical election trends[edit]

See also: Presidential voting history by state

Iowa presidential election results (1900-2020)

* 11 Democratic wins
* 20 Republican wins

Year  | 1900  | 1904  | 1908  | 1912  | 1916  | 1920  | 1924  | 1928  | 1932  | 1936  | 1940  | 1944  | 1948  | 1952  | 1956  | 1960  | 1964  | 1968  | 1972  | 1976  | 1980  | 1984  | 1988  | 1992  | 1996  | 2000  | 2004  | 2008  | 2012  | 2016  | 2020

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Winning Party | R | R | R | D | R | R | R | R | D | D | R | R | D | R | R | R | D | R | R | R | R | R | D | D | D | D | R | D | D | R | R

See also: Presidential election accuracy

Below is an analysis of Iowa's voting record in presidential elections. The state's accuracy is based on the number of times a state has voted for a winning presidential candidate. The majority of statistical data is from the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration and was compiled, here, by Ballotpedia, unless otherwise noted.

### Presidential election voting record in Iowa, 1900-2016[edit]

Between 1900 and 2016:

* Iowa participated in 30 presidential elections.
* Iowa voted for the winning presidential candidate 76.67 percent of the time. The average accuracy of voting for winning presidential candidates for all 50 states in this time frame was 72.31 percent.[38]
* Iowa voted Democratic 33.33 percent of the time and Republican 66.67 percent of the time.

### Presidential election voting record in Iowa, 2000-2016[edit]

* Accuracy: 80 percent[39]
* 2000 state winner: Al Gore (D)
* 2004 state winner: George W. Bush (R)*
* 2008 state winner: Barack Obama (D)*
* 2012 state winner: Barack Obama (D)*
* 2016 state winner: Donald Trump (R)*

*An asterisk indicates that that candidate also won the national electoral vote in that election.

### Historical election results[edit]

#### 2016[edit]

##### General election[edit]

U.S. presidential election, Iowa, 2016

Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | Electoral votes
| Democratic  |  Hillary Clinton/Tim Kaine | 41.7% | 653,669 | 0
| Republican  | Donald Trump/Mike Pence | 51.1% | 800,983 | 6
| Constitution  |  Darrell Lane Castle/Scott Bradley | 0.3% | 5,335 | 0
| Green  |  Jill Stein/Ajamu Baraka | 0.7% | 11,479 | 0
| Legal Marijuana Now  |  Dan R. Vacek/Mark G. Elworth Jr. | 0.1% | 2,246 | 0
| Libertarian  |  Gary Johnson/Bill Weld | 3.8% | 59,186 | 0
| New Independent  |  Lynn Sandra Kahn/Jay Stolba | 0.1% | 2,247 | 0
| Socialism and Liberation  |  Gloria Estela La Riva/Dennis J. Banks | 0% | 323 | 0
| Nominated by petition  |  Rocky De La Fuente/Michael Steinberg | 0% | 451 | 0
| Nominated by petition  |  Evan McMullin/Nathan Johnson | 0.8% | 12,366 | 0
| \-  |  Write-in votes  | 1.1% | 17,746 | 0
Total Votes | 1,566,031 | 6
Election results via: Iowa Secretary of State

##### Primary election[edit]

Iowa Democratic Caucus, 2016

Candidate | Vote % | Votes | Delegates
Hillary Clinton | 49.84% | 700.47 | 23
Bernie Sanders  | 49.59% | 696.92 | 21
Martin O'Malley  | 0.54% | 7.63 | 0
Uncommitted  | 0.03% | 0.46 | 0
Totals | 1,405.48 | 44
Source: Iowa Democratic Party Votes = State Delegate Equivalents

Iowa Republican Caucus, 2016

Candidate | Vote % | Votes | Delegates
Ted Cruz | 27.7% | 51,666 | 8
Donald Trump  | 24.3% | 45,427 | 7
Marco Rubio  | 23.1% | 43,165 | 7
Ben Carson  | 9.3% | 17,395 | 3
Rand Paul  | 4.5% | 8,481 | 1
Jeb Bush  | 2.8% | 5,238 | 1
Carly Fiorina  | 1.9% | 3,485 | 1
John Kasich  | 1.9% | 3,474 | 1
Mike Huckabee  | 1.8% | 3,345 | 1
Chris Christie  | 1.8% | 3,284 | 0
Rick Santorum  | 1% | 1,783 | 0
Totals | 186,743 | 30
Source: The Des Moines Register, "Iowa Caucus Results"

#### 2012[edit]

U.S. presidential election, Iowa, 2012

Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | Electoral votes
| Democratic  | Barack Obama/Joe Biden Incumbent | 52% | 822,544 | 6
| Republican  |  Mitt Romney/Paul Ryan | 46.2% | 730,617 | 0
| Libertarian  |  Gary Johnson/Jim Gray  | 0.8% | 12,926 | 0
| Green  |  Jill Stein/Cheri Honkala  | 0.2% | 3,769 | 0
| Socialism and Liberation  |  Gloria LaRiva/Stefanie Beacham  | 0% | 372 | 0
| N/A  |  Jerry Litzel/Jim Litzel  | 0.1% | 1,027 | 0
| Socialist Workers  |  James Harris/Alyson Kennedy  | 0% | 445 | 0
| Constitution  |  Virgil Goode/James Clymer  | 0.2% | 3,038 | 0
| Write-in  |  Write-in candidates  | 0.5% | 7,442 | 0
Total Votes | 1,582,180 | 6
Election results via: Iowa Secretary of State

#### 2008[edit]

U.S. presidential election, Iowa, 2008

Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | Electoral votes
| Democratic  | Barack Obama/Joe Biden | 53.9% | 828,940 | 7
| Republican  |  John McCain/Sarah Palin | 44.4% | 682,379 | 0
| Peace and Freedom  |  Ralph Nader/Matt Gonzalez  | 0.5% | 8,014 | 0
| Libertarian  |  Bob Barr/Wayne Allyn Root  | 0.3% | 4,590 | 0
| Green  |  Cynthia McKinney/Rosa Clemente  | 0.1% | 1,423 | 0
| Constitution  |  Chuck Baldwin/Darrell Castle  | 0.3% | 4,445 | 0
| Socialist Workers  |  James Harris/Alyson Kennedy  | 0% | 292 | 0
| Socialism and Liberation  |  Gloria la Riva/Robert Moses  | 0% | 121 | 0
| Socialist Party USA  |  Brian Moore/Stewart A. Alexander  | 0% | 182 | 0
| N/A  |  Scattering  | 0.4% | 6,737 | 0
Total Votes | 1,537,123 | 7
Election results via: Iowa Secretary of State

## Voter turnout[edit]

### Turnout statewide[edit]

According to The New York Times, some campaigns expected turnout in the 2020 Democratic caucuses to reach up to 300,000 voters. The actual number—about 176,000 caucusgoers—was up 3% from the 2016 election and down 25% from the 2008 election.

David Wasserman of The Cook Political Report partially attributed the flat turnout rate to partisan shifts in the state. "Democrats are simply not nearly as robust in rural Iowa as they used to be, which explains some of the decline," he said.[40]

### Turnout in Pivot Counties[edit]

The following table shows the number of voters who participated in the 2016 and 2020 Democratic and Republican presidential caucuses in Pivot Counties in Iowa and the percentage change in raw voter turnout.[41][42]

* Across all 31 Pivot Counties in Iowa, Democratic turnout was down 8.5%. Overall statewide turnout for Democrats was higher, going up 3.2%.
* Across all 31 Pivot Counties in Iowa, Republican turnout was down 79.6%. Overall statewide turnout was lower, going down 82.7%.
* Four Pivot Counties had increased Democratic turnout: Boone, Bremer, Cedar, and Dubuque counties. Buttigieg was the winner in three of these counties and Sanders in one.
* With an incumbent in the race, all Pivot Counties in Iowa saw reduced Republican turnout.

Turnout in Iowa Pivot Counties, 2016-2020

Pivot County  |  2016 Democratic turnout  |  2020 Democratic turnout  |  Percentage change  |  2016 Republican turnout  |  2020 Republican turnout  |  Percentage change
Allamakee County, Iowa | 600 | 496 | -17.3% | 687 | 158 | -77.0%
Boone County, Iowa | 1,300 | 1,351 | 3.9% | 1,758 | 363 | -79.4%
Bremer County, Iowa | 1,200 | 1,289 | 7.4% | 1,490 | 279 | -81.3%
Buchanan County, Iowa | 1,000 | 746 | -25.4% | 837 | 183 | -78.1%
Cedar County, Iowa | 799 | 823 | 3.0% | 1,070 | 264 | -75.3%
Cerro Gordo County, Iowa | 2,199 | 1,806 | -75.9% | 2,325 | 340 | -85.4%
Chickasaw County, Iowa | 599 | 387 | -35.4% | 601 | 135 | -77.5%
Clarke County, Iowa | 400 | 254 | -36.5% | 557 | 133 | -76.1%
Clayton County, Iowa | 800 | 632 | -21.0% | 846 | 220 | -74.0%
Clinton County, Iowa | 2,399 | 1,682 | -29.9% | 2,306 | 519 | -77.5%
Des Moines County, Iowa | 1,999 | 1,797 | -10.1% | 2,166 | 525 | -75.8%
Dubuque County, Iowa | 4,798 | 5,078 | 5.8% | 3,975 | 581 | -85.4%
Fayette County, Iowa | 998 | 760 | -23.8% | 1,000 | 246 | -75.4%
Floyd County, Iowa | 799 | 590 | -26.2% | 760 | 112 | -85.3%
Howard County, Iowa | 399 | 260 | -34.8% | 367 | 119 | -67.6%
Jackson County, Iowa | 900 | 768 | -14.7% | 930 | 205 | -78.0%
Jasper County, Iowa | 1,800 | 1,556 | -13.6% | 2,324 | 511 | -78.0%
Jefferson County, Iowa | 899 | 1,649 | 83.4% | 852 | 178 | -79.1%
Jones County, Iowa | 899 | 609 | -32.3% | 1,034 | 295 | -71.5%
Lee County, Iowa | 1,699 | 1,214 | -28.5% | 1,320 | 382 | -71.1%
Louisa County, Iowa | 400 | 306 | -23.5% | 724 | 143 | -80.2%
Marshall County, Iowa | 1,799 | 1,436 | -20.2% | 2,327 | 421 | -81.9%
Mitchell County, Iowa | 400 | 341 | -14.8% | 471 | 79 | -83.2%
Muscatine County, Iowa | 1,800 | 1,688 | -6.2% | 2,414 | 377 | -84.4%
Poweshiek County, Iowa | 899 | 1,755 | 95.2% | 983 | 214 | -78.2%
Tama County, Iowa | 899 | 567 | -36.9% | 983 | 210 | -78.6%
Union County, Iowa | 499 | 339 | -32.1% | 702 | 146 | -79.2%
Wapello County, Iowa | 1,491 | 1,075 | -24.9% | 1,669 | 333 | -80.0%
Webster County, Iowa | 1,599 | 1,199 | -25.0% | 1,591 | 327 | -79.4%
Winneshiek County, Iowa | 1,100 | 1,847 | 67.9% | 1,044 | 188 | -82.0%
Worth County, Iowa | 399 | 276 | -30.8% | 375 | 74 | -80.3%
Pivot County Total | 37,711 | 34,576 | -8.5% | 40,488 | 8,260 | -79.6%
Statewide Total | 171,109 | 176,569 | 3.2% | 186,874 | 32,389 | -82.7%

## State profile[edit]

See also: Iowa and Iowa elections, 2019

### Partisan data[edit]

The information in this section was current as of May 7, 2019

Presidential voting pattern

* Iowa voted for the Democratic candidate in three out of the six presidential elections between 2000 and 2020.

Congressional delegation

* Following the 2018 elections, both U.S. Senators from Iowa were Republicans.
* Iowa had three Democratic and one Republican U.S. Representatives.

State executives

* Democrats held three and Republicans held four of Iowa's 14 state executive offices. Elections for the other offices are nonpartisan.
* Iowa's governor was Republican Kim Reynolds.

State legislature

* Republicans controlled the Iowa State Senate with a 32-18 majority.
* Republicans controlled the Iowa House of Representatives with a 53-47 majority.

Iowa Party Control: 1992-2022
Four years of Democratic trifectas • Eight years of Republican trifectas
Scroll left and right on the table below to view more years.

Year  | 92  | 93  | 94  | 95  | 96  | 97  | 98  | 99  | 00  | 01  | 02  | 03  | 04  | 05  | 06  | 07  | 08  | 09  | 10  | 11  | 12  | 13  | 14  | 15  | 16  | 17  | 18  | 19  | 20  | 21  | 22

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Governor | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R
Senate | D | D | D | D | D | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | S | S | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | R | R | R | R | R | R
House | D | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | D | D | D | D | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R

Iowa quick stats

* Became a state in 1846
* 29th state admitted to the United States
* Members of the Iowa State Senate: 50
* Members of the Iowa House of Representatives: 100
* U.S. senators: 2
* U.S. representatives: 4

|  More Iowa coverage on Ballotpedia:

* Iowa elections, 2019
* Presidential voting trends in Iowa
* United States congressional delegations from Iowa
* Public policy in Iowa
* Influencers in Iowa
* Almanac of American Politics state profile
* More...

|

Demographic data for Iowa

| Iowa| U.S.
Total population:| 3,121,997| 316,515,021
Land area (sq mi):| 55,857| 3,531,905
Race and ethnicity**
White:| 91.2%| 73.6%
Black/African American:| 3.2%| 12.6%
Asian:| 2%| 5.1%
Native American:| 0.3%| 0.8%
Pacific Islander:| 0.1%| 0.2%
Two or more:| 2%| 3%
Hispanic/Latino:| 5.4%| 17.1%
Education
High school graduation rate:| 91.5%| 86.7%
College graduation rate:| 26.7%| 29.8%
Income
Median household income:| $53,183| $53,889
Persons below poverty level:| 13.8%| 11.3%
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2010-2015)
Click here for more information on the 2020 census and here for more on its impact on the redistricting process in Iowa.

* * *

**Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.

## Presidential election by state[edit]

See also: Presidential election by state, 2020

Click on a state below to navigate to information about the presidential election in that jurisdiction.

Choose your state...AlabamaAlaskaArizonaArkansasCaliforniaColoradoConnecticutDelawareFloridaGeorgiaHawaiiIdahoIllinoisIndianaIowaKansasKentuckyLouisianaMaineMarylandMassachusettsMichiganMinnesotaMississippiMissouriMontanaNebraskaNevadaNew HampshireNew JerseyNew MexicoNew YorkNorth CarolinaNorth DakotaOhioOklahomaOregonPennsylvaniaRhode IslandSouth CarolinaSouth DakotaTennesseeTexasUtahVermontVirginiaWashingtonWashington, D.C.West VirginiaWisconsinWyoming

https://ballotpedia.org/Presidential_election_in_STATE,_2020

## See also[edit]

* Presidential candidates, 2020
* Democratic presidential nomination, 2020
* Republican presidential nomination, 2020
* Presidential election by state, 2020

## Footnotes[edit]

1. ↑ The New York Times, "Iowa Caucus Results 2020: Live," February 3, 2020
2. ↑ "Iowa Results," February 9, 2020
3. ↑ Politico, "Buttigieg still leads Sanders after Iowa caucus recount," February 27, 2020
4. ↑ The Des Moines Register, "Caucus History," accessed January 17, 2020
5. ↑ Including uncommitted voters, President Bill Clinton (D) also placed outside of the top three and won the Democratic nomination in 1992.
6. ↑ 270 to Win, "Iowa," accessed June 17, 2019
7. ↑ This analysis does not include counties in Alaska and certain independent cities due to variations in vote total reporting.
8. ↑ The raw data for this study was provided by Dave Leip of Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections.
9. ↑ Nature, "The power of prediction markets," October 18, 2016
10. ↑ Politico, "Meet the 'stock market' for politics," October 31, 2014
11. ↑ U.S. Presidential General Election Results, "2008 Electoral Map Based on the Intrade Prediction Market," accessed January 25, 2018
12. ↑ Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "2020 DNC in Milwaukee pushed back to week of August 17 in response to coronavirus pandemic," April 2, 2020
13. ↑ The New York Times, "Milwaukee Picked as Site of 2020 Democratic National Convention," March 11, 2019
14. ↑ Talking Points Memo, "Bernie Sanders Ends 2020 Bid, Making Biden Presumptive Dem Nominee," April 8, 2020
15. ↑ AP, "Biden formally clinches Democratic presidential nomination," June 5, 2020
16. ↑ CNBC, "Joe Biden picks Sen. Kamala Harris to be his vice presidential running mate, making her the first black woman on a major ticket," August 11, 2020
17. ↑ Associated Press, "New rules could muddle results of Iowa caucuses," January 16, 2020
18. ↑ The New York Times, "Iowa Will Have 4 Sets of Results. Here’s How The Times Will Declare a Winner.," February 2, 2020
19. ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
20. ↑ ABC57, "Iowa caucus results delayed due to ‘inconsistencies in reporting," February 4, 2020
21. ↑ ABC News, "Iowa caucuses fail to declare Democratic winner after major snafu with reporting results," February 4, 2020
22. ↑ 4President.us, "Deval Patrick Statement on Iowa Caucus," February 4, 2020
23. ↑ [ https://blog.4president.org/2020/2020/02/tulsi-gabbard-releases-statement-on-iowa-caucuses.html 4President.org, "Tulsi Gabbard Releases Statement on Iowa Caucuses," February 4, 2020]
24. ↑ Reuters, "Democrats' bid to challenge Trump off to a messy start in Iowa," February 4, 2020
25. ↑ Politico, "The winner is ... no one," February 4, 2020
26. ↑ YouTube, "Joe Biden promises to unite the country during 2020 Iowa caucus speech," February 3, 2020
27. ↑ Financial Times, "Democrats wrestle to claim victory amid Iowa caucuses confusion," February 4, 2020
28. ↑ RealClearPolitics, "Klobuchar Tells Supporters Her Campaign Is 'Punching Above' Its Weight, Moving On To New Hampshire," February 4, 2020
29. ↑ YouTube, "Elizabeth Warren addresses supporters amid delay in Iowa results," February 3, 2020
30. ↑ YouTube, "Sen. Bernie Sanders' Full Speech After Iowa Caucus | NowThis," February 3, 2020
31. ↑ Rev, "Andrew Yang's Full Speech," accessed February 5, 2020
32. ↑ The Des Moines Register, "Candidate Tracker," accessed July 29, 2019
33. ↑ NECN, "2020 New Hampshire Candidate Tracker," accessed July 29, 2019
34. ↑ Post & Courier, "2020 SC Presidential Candidate Tracker," accessed July 29, 2019
35. ↑ The Nevada Independent, "Presidential Candidate Tracker," accessed July 29, 2019
36. ↑ Charlotte Observer, "Here’s when the 2020 Republican National Convention will be in Charlotte," October 1, 2018
37. ↑ NPR, "When Has A President Been Denied His Party's Nomination?" July 22, 2009
38. ↑ This average includes states like Arizona, New Mexico, and Oklahoma, which did not participate in all 30 presidential elections between 1900 and 2016. It does not include Washington, D.C., which cast votes for president for the first time in 1964, or Alaska and Hawaii, which cast votes for president for the first time in 1960.
39. ↑ This number refers to the number of times that the state voted for the winning presidential candidate between 2000 and 2016.
40. ↑ The Wall Street Journal, "Iowa Democratic Turnout Prompts Concerns About Voter Enthusiasm," February 8, 2020
41. ↑ Politico, "2016 Iowa Presidential Caucuses Results," accessed February 19, 2020
42. ↑ The Washington Post, "2020 Iowa Democratic caucuses live results," February 19, 2020

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