President Donald Trump addressed thousands of supporters in northwest Iowa on Thursday, continuing a fast-paced tour of the nation to boost turnout for Republican candidates in midterm elections.
Some polls and prediction markets have Democrats favored to capture control of the Senate and House of Representatives on Nov. 3.
“If they win the midterms, it’s the start of something very bad, very dark, very horrible for our country,” Trump said during a rally in a hangar on the tarmac at Sioux Gateway Airport in Sioux City.
He listed his administration’s achievements, including border security, reduced poverty, low unemployment, and stock market highs, emphasizing tax cuts, deregulation efforts, and other objectives, while cautioning that progress could be undone if Democrats control Congress.
“But the proud people of Iowa will never let that happen,” Trump said. “We just need the votes.”
The president painted the Democratic challengers in Iowa’s races as pro-transgender, urging his supporters to cast their ballots as if his name was on it.
Iowans will soon choose between Republican Rep. Ashley Hinson and Democrat Josh Turek to replace retiring Republican Sen. Joni Ernst.
“The nation is watching Iowa,” Hinson said. “All eyes are on Iowa right now, and with the help of everyone here today, your friends, your families, your neighbors, we are going to make sure we keep Iowa’s U.S. Senate seat red, our governor’s mansion red, and the entire state red, so we can keep delivering for Iowa.”
Republicans are looking to hold onto their slim majorities in Congress, with Democrats needing a net gain of four seats in the Senate and about the same number to control the House of Representatives.
“Iowa could very well be the majority-making seat in the United States Senate,” Hinson said. “If we lose this seat here in Iowa, the Democrats will control the U.S. Senate.”
She pledged to address affordability, government corruption, and prescription drug costs, and to support a ban on congressional stock trading, alongside other priorities.
Turek, a state legislator and two-time gold medal-winning Paralympian, is campaigning on improving the cost of living and healthcare and ending the war in Iran, among other issues.
“I’m a common-sense prairie populist that’s out there fighting for the people, not for the billionaires,” he said recently on the campaign trail.
The Democrat favors reducing taxes on individuals and is open to bipartisan negotiation, citing his record of voting with his opponents on hundreds of occasions during his time in the state legislature.
“I don’t believe that any party has a monopoly on good ideas,” Turek said. “I believe that the best policy comes through working across the aisle.”
Polls suggest the race is tight, with some giving Hinson a slight edge. Early voting in the state began on Oct. 14.
Voters will also decide on a new governor after Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds decided not to seek re-election. Democrat Rob Sand leads Republican Zach Lahn in the latest polling, and political analysts call the race a toss-up.
State Auditor Sand is running on a record of “rooting out waste, fraud, and abuse, holding members of both parties accountable, and doing what’s right for Iowans,” according to a campaign statement.
Sixth-generation Iowan Lahn told the rally crowd in his hometown area he would “defend the culture of the state” and thanked the president for appearing, his seventh visit to the Sioux City region since 2015. Another Iowa rally is planned for Nov. 1.
Trump’s schedule next takes him to Florida, Georgia, Michigan, Texas, and Ohio, with more rallies expected through Nov. 3.
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