Democrats are desperately trying to lay the groundwork to recapture voting blocs in 2028 that shifted toward President Donald Trump last November. But one important nominating state, Iowa, is seemingly being left behind as the party sets its sights elsewhere.
Over the last two years, Democrats have been chipping away at Iowa’s first-in-the-nation status, something it’s held since 1972. In 2023, the party dismantled Iowa’s position as the first state in the presidential nominating process, with allies of then-President Joe Biden elevating South Carolina to the coveted role.
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This week, the Hawkeye State lost its single seat on the powerful Rules and Bylaws Committee that oversees setting the presidential nominating calendar. New Hampshire, which defied the Democratic National Committee by holding an unsanctioned primary last cycle, gained a second seat. The other states that make up the early voting process, Nevada and South Carolina, also received a second representative.
Iowa is a unique Midwestern state. While surrounding states like Illinois and Minnesota have moved to the left, and Wisconsin leans blue, despite swinging for Trump in 2024, Iowa has largely been written off as a red state. However, it has a purple history and elected former President Barack Obama over Republican John McCain in 2008.
But with both parties becoming increasingly polarized over the last several cycles, the Hawkeye State appears to be a conservative stronghold for the time being. All six members of the U.S. congressional delegation from Iowa are Republicans, and State Auditor Rob Sand, now running for governor, is the only Democrat holding statewide office.
“National Democrats are pulling away from Iowa,” Democratic state Sen. Tony Bisignano told the Washington Examiner. “Rightfully so, looking back at our turn to the far right as a politically voting state. Iowa peaked with Obama, and it’s been a disaster ever since.”
Bisignano said attracting national Democrats back to the state will depend heavily on the party’s success in the 2026 midterm elections, but he’s not optimistic about that.
“Politics is what have you done lately,” the state legislator said. “We have tanked!”
Iowa congressional Republicans have even expressed disappointment with the DNC’s decision — particularly as the issue of preserving the caucuses and Iowa’s first-in-the-nation status has been a bipartisan one for so long, Rep. Ashley Hinson (R-IA) said.
“But I think what this speaks to is the level of how the national Democrats are so out of touch,” Hinson told the Washington Examiner. “Iowa Democrats are so out of touch, and I think this is just a consequence of that.”
“I think that’s unfortunate,” Hinson added.
Rep. Randy Feenstra (R-IA) echoed Hinson, stating it was “truly disappointing” to hear about the DNC’s decision and the overall “lack of engagement” from Democrats in the state.
“They’re getting more liberal, and Iowa is a state of normal people,” Feenstra, who is also running for governor of Iowa, told the Washington Examiner. “It’s just unfortunate where the Democrat Party is headed.”
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The decision to pull Iowa’s seat at the Rules and Bylaws Committee comes as Chairman Ken Martin finds his footing within the DNC, signaling that Iowa’s influence within the party is waning as Democrats already are preparing for a competitive and consequential presidential primary in 2028.
Iowa Democratic Party Chairwoman Rita Hart said in a statement that while her focus is winning both statewide and national races in 2026, she does expect “tough and direct conversations with the DNC” regarding the caucuses and the “serious concerns surrounding the Biden 2024 calendar.”
Iowa still has representation on the DNC’s Resolutions Committee with Gregory Christensen. But the absence of an Iowan on the nominating calendar committee could be indicative that Democrats are giving up on the state, which could be detrimental for rallying ground support ahead of the midterm elections.
“National Democrats let Trump get a headstart in the 2024 campaign by excluding Iowa,” Hart said. “We simply can’t afford to be ignored again.”
Reps. Zach Nunn (R-IA) and Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-IA) are among the 29 vulnerable House Republican seats the GOP needs to defend, and Democrats only need a net gain of three seats to take back the lower chamber. On the Senate side, Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) is up for reelection, and given recent controversies and policy stances, it could open the door for a Democratic victory.
The removal from the DNC also comes after Iowa Democrats flipped a red state Senate seat earlier this year — a trend developing across several states, such as Nebraska and Wisconsin, where Democrats are defeating Republican candidates or incumbents in the wake of the 2024 election.
“The DNC is committed to running a fair, transparent, and rigorous process for the 2028 primary calendar,” said Abhi Rahman, deputy communications director for the DNC. “All states will have an opportunity to participate.”
Rahman praised Iowa’s DNC members and Hart as “fierce advocates” of the state and assured that “they will have their voices heard.”
One Democratic communications strategist, who has worked with the DNC and was granted anonymity to discuss committee conversations, told the Washington Examiner that Iowa doesn’t seem to be on “anybody’s minds” at meetings discussing how to move forward in the aftermath of former Vice President Kamala Harris’s campaign.
But the strategist said the intention perhaps is not to “punish Iowa” by removing it from the Rules and Bylaws Committee. Instead, they think Martin’s choice reflects that he has “good relationships with the folks that he picked,” who he thinks can best get the DNC on track across the board, not just state by state.
Democrats face an uphill battle to bring blue-collar workers and minority blocs such as black, Latino, Asian American, and Pacific Islander voters back to their side of the aisle. But Iowa, the strategist said, is a predominantly white early state compared to other early nominating states. Of the early primary states, South Carolina boasts the largest population of black voters.
Meanwhile, population shifts to the South and away from blue states such as California and New York have forced Democrats to figure out how to win elsewhere to keep up electorally.
Democrats have kept an eye on the South and Sun Belt, such as Georgia, Arizona, Nevada, and North Carolina. Through Martin’s “Organize Everywhere, Win Anywhere” plan, the DNC will allot $17,500 to state officials in blue states and $22,500 to state parties in red states to continue outreach.
“I think there is some intentionality by the DNC and some of the folks who are from Southern states who are like, ‘If we’re gonna win the presidency, or win back the House and the Senate … we need to figure out ways to win back these voters,’” the strategist said.
“So then, when you’re trying to make a defense that Iowa and New Hampshire should be states that are early states, you’re like, ‘Wait, white people ruin everything. What? Democrats are supposed to be diverse. What?’ And so, that’s a lot of the back and forth.”
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Hinson said the Iowa-is-too-white argument “falls flat” when compared to the demographics of early voting states such as New Hampshire, Nevada, and Michigan.
“They’re listening to a few in their most progressive wing of their party, and it’s exactly why they’ve lost ground in Iowa,” Hinson said. “Iowa Democrats are continuing to make it harder for Iowa to keep its status as well, within the DNC. I really think they’re doing this to themselves.”