A few weeks ago, I was phone banking for congressional candidate Lanon Baccam, who is running against Republican incumbent Rep. Zach Nunn in Iowa’s District 3. A member of his team spoke to us volunteers and said something that stuck with me, “At its heart, Iowa is a swing state.”
But is it really?
The current state and direction of Iowa politics would have you believe otherwise. With four Republican members in the U.S. House, two Republicans in the U.S Senate (one of whom is older than the chocolate chip cookie) and Republican majorities in both the Iowa House of Representatives and in the Iowa Senate, most people would take one look at these Republican advantages and confidently make a guess at where Iowa’s values lie.
Iowa hasn’t always been this way, though, and there are many organizations that are combating Iowa’s current red status.
The Iowa Abortion Access Fund is an organization that provides funding for those seeking abortion care outside of the state who may need lodging or a car rental. Since Iowa’s near-total abortion ban severely limits abortion access, these developing country problems are now some that Iowans face. That fact alone is enough to earn the Iowa State Legislature a top score in the unjust and idiodic slap-in-the-face-to-basic-healthcare-needs’ contest, which liberals and non-liberals alike agree is extremely dangerous to any pregnant person, and make people, like myself, very angry. But let us not forget the better outcomes that have come out of Iowa.
Iowa was the very first state to legalize gay marriage. Not California, not Minnesota and not even New York, but the corn belt leader itself. Iowa also went blue for Obama in both the 2008 and 2012 presidential elections.
64% of Iowans support abortion access, a sharp increase from the 49% a few years ago. Gov. Kim Reynolds has the lowest approval rating of any governor throughout the U.S. Mobilizations and door knocking efforts showcase that there are Democratic voters out there within the corn maze that is politics, and they are ready to vote early and on Election Day for their Democratic candidates.
These are not the trademarks of a consistently red state like Louisiana or Alabama.
You can place blame for Iowa’s recent cardinal follies on a myriad of different reasons: Reynolds and her lackeys, a lack of cohesion and resistance from the Democratic Party or Joe Biden pulling the Dems out of the Iowa Caucus.
But here’s a little-known behind-the-scenes reason, and what I think is the one of the most important and overlooked aspects of Iowa’s current crimson-clad direction: The Family Leader.
An organization dedicated to implementing “Christian values” everywhere and anywhere, The Family Leader was founded in 1996 but has primarily been active in Iowa politics since the 2010s. Did the majority of Iowans ask for this? No. The Family Leader’s mission, fanbase and money pit is just that strong.
The Family Leader played a key role in removing the Iowa Supreme Court judges that decided the ruling in favor of gay marriage. They are known as a LGBT hate group. Their stance on “school choice” gave way to Gov. Reynolds’ private school vouchers, rewarding parents for sending their children to religious institutions.
The fact that one singular organization can change the political outlook for an entire state is insane, and, honestly, we should applaud their overcoming of the collective action problem. Except I hate their guts, so I won’t, but I urge liberal organizations to take a page out of their long-game playbook. Because this was very much an organized effort.
The Family Leader played the long game, and now Democrats should, too. They’re not going to upend years of conservative efforts in one election cycle. But we can sure as hell try and continue canvassing efforts for years to come.
For Democrats, there is hope. Iowans are increasingly frustrated with their Republican legislators and their constant attention and bending to the will of small uber-Christian minorities and lobbyists, and maybe The Family Leader’s grip on Iowa politics will loosen. Maybe.
So yes, in the past Iowa may have acted as a swing state, but this election will be crucial. It will provide a prediction for Iowa’s swinging future and whether this state can be trusted with the interests of its citizens.
