Four Ways Kamala Harris Can Help Iowa’s Lower-Ranking Democrats

“Running as a Democrat in rural Iowa is much more hopeful right now,” said Tommy Hexter, candidate for the Iowa House of Representatives posted on X/Twitter on July 22, shortly after Vice President Kamala Harris had secured enough support from delegates to win the Democratic nomination for president. “I am so grateful to Joe Biden for culminating his service to our country by passing the torch to someone who can truly motivate voters here in the Heartland.”

Many Democrats in Iowa shared Hexter’s sense of relief and excitement after Biden announced he would step down as the party’s nominee.

Iowa is no longer the swing state it was in every presidential election between 1992 and 2012. Few doubt that Donald Trump will have little trouble winning Iowa’s six electoral votes.

Still, Harris’ campaign could help Democrats in the fight for other positions.

LIFTING A WEIGHT ON TOP OF THE TICKET

Trump won Iowa in 2020 with 53.1 percent of the vote to Biden’s 44.9 percent, and his success helped Republicans pick up two districts and six seats in the Iowa House of Representatives. Bad as that was, Biden was on track to lose by a bigger margin this year. The latest Iowa Poll conducted by Selzer & Co. for the Des Moines Register and Mediacom showed Trump leading the incumbent among likely voters 50 percent to 32 percent.

The same poll found that Biden’s approval rating was 28 percent in Iowa, with 67 percent disapproving of his job as president. Independents in the sample disapproved of Biden’s job performance 69 percent to 24 percent. The president’s popularity ratings weren’t much better, with just 33 percent of respondents viewing him favorably, compared to 66 percent unfavorably (including 50 percent who had a “very unfavorable” opinion of the president).

The poll took place from June 9 to 14.for Biden debated Trump live on television.

Biden’s low numbers weren’t a one-off. The Register/Mediacom Iowa Poll found the president’s approval rating at 30 percent in March 2023 and 29 percent in February 2024. In fact, Selzer hasn’t measured Biden’s approval in Iowa above 35 percent since June 2021.

I haven’t seen approval ratings for Harris in Iowa, or polls comparing her to Trump. She may not be doing well there. But voters’ opinions of the vice president are likely less “baked in” than their opinions of Biden, giving Harris a chance to improve her standing as voters learn more.

Equally important, Harris, at 59, does not have Biden’s biggest problem: the widespread feeling that he is too old to serve the next four years as president. Now the tables are turning, and the 78-year-old Republican nominee could face more questions about his age and fitness.

MORE TENSION, MORE VOLUNTEERS

It’s hard to overstate how discouraged Iowa Democrats have been in recent months. Of the Democratic respondents in Selzer’s June Iowa Poll, 61 percent said they felt “exhausted” thinking about the presidential election, and 59 percent said they felt “scared.” Only 45 percent of Democrats felt optimistic about the race, and just 26 percent said they were excited.

Again, that research was conducted before the Trump-Biden debate.

Iowa House Minority Leader Jennifer Konfrst acknowledged the concerns in an email newsletter and a social media post on July 18:

It’s been a rough few weeks and it’s time to just say it. With constant news and social media chaos making everything overwhelming and frustrating, I sometimes feel completely helpless. And I hear from people every day who remind me that I am not the only one who feels this way.

But I do know this: our work cannot be paralyzed by everything that happens in Washington DC. I am focused on making positive change in Iowa and holding Kim Reynolds and the GOP accountable. The Iowa House is where we can break the Republican trifecta in our state, but we need your help to make that happen.

So instead of doom scrolling (yes I’m talking about you), I am taking action and I hope you will join me. (…)

Grassroots support for Harris has exploded across the country, with her campaign raising a record $81 million for ActBlue in the 24 hours following Biden’s announcement. Tens of thousands of Black women joined a July 21 organizing call for Harris, and tens of thousands of Black men joined a the next day.

I’ve seen a lot of optimistic posts and comments on Iowa Democratic Party social media from people who live in cities, suburbs and rural areas. (Hexter is running for Iowa House District 53, which includes Poweshiek and Tama counties.)

In a July 22 statement announcing the unanimous support of Iowa delegates for Harris, state party chair Rita Hart said, “We have seen an outpouring of support in the last 24 hours since Vice President Kamala Harris announced her run for the White House. Not only has Vice President Harris broken national fundraising records, here in Iowa we have had a significant number of people reach out to us to volunteer.”

It’s too early to guess how many Democrats will follow up on these offers. We do know that volunteers are more important than ever, with national groups spending little on advertising in Iowa and no candidate investing in the kind of ground work that Barack Obama’s campaign did here in 2008 and 2012.

A STRONGER MESSENGER ON IMPORTANT ISSUES

Few Iowa Democrats would criticize Biden’s record. I’ve heard many echo Rep. Adam Zabner’s assessment: “Joe Biden has been the best president of my lifetime.”

At the same time, there are many Democrats lost confidence in Biden to push for his reelection. A recent national poll found that 65 percent of Democratic respondents wanted the president to withdraw from the race. Similar doubts led Christina Bohannan and Sarah Corkery, the party’s candidates in Iowa’s 1st and 2nd congressional districts, to call earlier this month for Biden to step aside.

In a conversation with me on July 21, Corkery described the president as “a true American hero because he puts his country before himself.” The change, she said, “shows Americans who are telling the truth and are willing to make adjustments.”

Harris can communicate more effectively on a variety of issues. But she will be a better messenger on abortion rights, above all. Jessica Valenti highlighted the contrast in the latest post of her Substack newsletter, Abortion, Every Day:

Biden’s conspicuous lack of enthusiasm for abortion rights — at times bordering on apparent disgust — has been a real problem in his campaign and presidency.

The president spent just 30 seconds in his 2023 State of the Union address on abortion rights, often avoiding the word altogether. (In his 2024 SOTU, Biden even deviated from his prepared remarks and dropped the word “abortion.”) When Biden did speak about abortion, he often warned that he would not support “abortion on demand.”

Harris, on the other hand, has been the much more positive public face of the administration’s reproductive rights. In recent months, the vice president has been on a “Fight for Reproductive Freedoms” speaking tour, meeting with everyone from activists and local lawmakers to doctors and students.

Unlike Biden, she is direct and enthusiastic: A POLITICS comparison For example, their comments on Florida’s abortion ban showed Biden using the word “abortion” twice, while Harris used it 15 times, sometimes in conjunction with the phrase “Trump abortion bans.”

A nominee who speaks passionately about bodily autonomy can only help Democrats in the first presidential election after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the law. Roe vs. WadeThe issue should be more relevant now in Iowa, with our state’s near-total abortion ban in effect.

Weeks before Biden stepped aside, Democrats in the Iowa House of Representatives had already planned to focus on two issues this year: public education and reproductive rights. In a statement endorsing Harris on July 22, Konfrst noted that the vice president “understands what is at stake this fall, including the critical issue of reproductive freedom for Americans. She has been a fierce and outspoken advocate for the rights of women to make their own health care decisions. Just last summer, she was in Iowa to highlight the risks of Iowa Republicans’ extreme abortion ban. With so much at stake, she will be a critical voice on this important issue.”

NO CHAOS AT THE CONVENTION

Some pundits and big donors dreamed of a “mini-primary” this summer and an open competition at the Democratic National Convention. That fantasy never paid off. Who would challenge the sitting vice president if Biden withdrew?

How could an outside candidate run a national operation without access to Biden-Harris campaign funds and staff?

How would a fight on the floor of the DNC in Chicago benefit the nominee? The turmoil at the 1968 and 1972 conventions undermined the Democratic candidates.

Dozens of Democrats in Congress endorsed Harris within hours of Biden’s announcement. By the end of the day, most governors and senators were in the picture, as potential replacement candidates had publicly endorsed Harris. By the following evening, the vice president had secured enough DNC delegates, including the entire Iowa delegation, to win the nomination on the first ballot.

Last week’s Republican National Convention in Milwaukee drew slightly lower ratings than the 2020 RNC. I think the switch to Harris will generate much more interest in this year’s Democratic proceedings. The party doesn’t need ugly scenes that would reinforce one of the mainstream media’s favorite narratives: “Democrats in disarray.” An optimistic convention that unites progressives and moderates should help Harris as voters get to know her better.

Dan Guild has studied the impact of party conventions for decades. His research has shown that “conventions can fundamentally alter the public’s perception of a candidate.”

If Harris and her running mate do well in Chicago, they could lift all boats for Democrats in Iowa. That may not be enough to put Iowa’s electoral votes in play, but it would improve their prospects for winning back seats in Congress and the state legislature.

The top photo of Vice President Kamala Harris at Grandview University in Des Moines on March 16, 2023, is by Greg Hauenstein and republished with permission.