IOWA 6 Electoral Votes 
link to clickable map
Population 
(Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Iowa Secretary of State)
Total Resident Population, July 1, 2016 est.
3,143,693

Total Registration,  (active) 2,209,903 >  
Rep. 662,167 (33.17%)   Dem. 629,081 (31.15%)   No Party 694,005 (34.77%)   Other 10,900
Iowa has: 99 counties, 949 cities.

Six largest counties (100,000-plus): Polk, Linn, Scott, Johnson, Black Hawk, Woodbury.
Six largest cities: Des Moines, Cedar Rapids, Davenport, Sioux City, Iowa City, Waterloo.

Government
Governor: Terry Branstad (R) elected 2010, re-elected 2014. 
State Legislature: General Assembly  House: 100 seats  Senate: 50 seats
Local: Cities and Counties    NACO
U.S. House: 3R, 1D - 1. R.Blum (R) | 2. D.Loebsack (D) | 3. D.Young (R) | 4. S.King (R).  >
U.S. Senate: Joni Ernst (R) elected in 2014, Chuck Grassley (R) re-elected in 2016.
2016
U.S. Senate: Sen. Chuck Grassley (R), frst elected to the Senate in 1980 won a seventh term, defeating former Lt. Gov. Patty Judge (D) by 926,007 votes (60.09%) to 549,460 (35.66%) and 41,794 (2.71%) for Charles Aldrich (L) , 17,649 (1.14%) for Jim Hennager (NewInd.), 4,441 for a petition candidate for a total of 1,541,036.
U.S. House:
All four Members were seeking re-election.  Democrats hoped to pick up one or two seats, but that did not happen.  Most closely watched was CD-1 (Northeast Iowa), where freshman Rep. Rod Blum (R) defeated Cedar Rapids Councilwoman Monica Vernon (D) by 206,903 votes (53.74%) to 177,403 (46.08%).  In CD-2 Rep. Dave Loebsack (D) fended off a challenge from Christopher Peters (R) by 198,571 votes (53.66%) to 170,933 (46.19%).  The races in CD-3 and CD-4 were more one-sided.
State Legislature: 
Republicans gained control of the Senate; 25 of 50 seats were up, and the balance shifted from 25D, 23R, 1I and 1v to 29R, 20D and 1I.  All 100 House seats were up; the balance went from 57R, 43D to 59R, 41D.

 State of Iowa
Secretary of State

IA Democratic Party
IA Green Party
Libertarian Party of IA
Republican Party of IA
Constitution Party of IA

Des Moines Register
Media (Newsp.), 2
TV, Radio

Iowa Starting Line
Bleeding Heartland
Caffeinated Thoughts


Politics1-IA
Ballotpedia-IA


The Hawkeye State
General Election -- Tuesday, November 8, 2016
Voting Eligible Population*: 2,290,215.
VEP Highest Office Turnout Rate: 68.4%.


Voter Pre-Registration Deadline
:  Oct. 29, 2016.  By mail, must be postmarked Oct. 24.  Iowa does have Election Day Registration >

Early Voting: First day absentee ballots may be voted in county auditor’s offices is Thursday, Sept. 29, 2016.  Continues through Monday, Nov. 7, 2016.

SOS



Trump
Clinton
Johnson
Election Day
530,083
321,705
41,139
Absentee
270,900
331,964
18,047
Total
800,983
653,669
59,186

Official Results >

 
+Trump/Pence (Rep.)
800,983
(51.15)
Clinton/Kaine (Dem.)
653,669
(41.74)
Castle/Bradley (Const.)
5,335
(0.34)
Stein/Baraka (Grn.)
11,479
(0.73)
Vacek/Elworth (Marij.)
2,246
(0.14)
Johnson/Weld (Lib.)
59,186
(3.78)
Kahn/Stolba (NewInd.)
2,247
(0.14)
LaRiva/Banks (PSL)
323
-
De La Fuente/Steinberg (Pet.)
451
-
McMullin/Johnson (Pet.)
12,366
(0.79)
Write-In
17,746
(1.13)
Total........1,566,031

Also there were 12,914 under votes and 2,426 over votes or a total of 1,581,371.


Overview: Iowa was again a contested state, but the campaign was not closely fought as in some of the other battleground states.  Trump and Pence spent considerably more time in the state than did Clinton and Kaine.  When the votes were tallied Trump won with a plurality of 147,314 votes (9.41 percentage points), carrying 93 of 99 counties.  The six counties Clinton carried were all large urban counties (Polk, Linn Scott, Johnson, Black Hawk and Story).  Statewide Clinton won in early voting, but as in Florida, another battleground state, Trump "crushed it" on Election Day (+).  As in 2012 Iowa had the sixth highest turnout as a percentage of voting eligilble population (after MN, NH, ME, CO and WI). 
General Election Details
Clinton  | 
Trump
BALLOT [PDF]
[State Primary: June 7, 2016]
Iowa Caucuses -- Monday, February 1, 2016
Main Iowa Caucuses Page

Democrats
51 Delegates: 29 District, 9 At-Large, 6 PLEO, 7 Unpledged.

details
Republicans
69 Delegates: 3 RNC; 12 at-large; 54 by CD (3 x 18). 

details


General Election Winners in Iowa, 1992-2012
1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012
Clinton
43.28%
Clinton
50.26%
Gore
48.54%
Bush
49.90%
Obama
53.93%
Obama
51.99%
  and the details...
 
General Election -- Tuesday, November 6, 2012
Voting Eligible Population*: 2,263,375.
VEP Highest Office Turnout Rate: 69.9%.


Voter Registration Deadline
: Pre-registering in person October 23, 2012.  By mail, must be received by October 27 or postmarked October 22.

Early Voting: First day to vote in person in auditor’s office is Thursday, September 27, 2012.  Continues through November 5.

741,771 absentee ballots were requested. 689,661 absentee ballots were received:
Democratic
Republican
No Party
Other

219,576
287,935
181,260
890
Official Results >

 
Romney/Ryan (Rep.) 730,617
(46.18)
+Obama/Biden (Dem.)
822,544
(51.99)
Goode/Clymer (Const.)
3,038
(0.19)
Stein/Honkala (Grn.)
3,769
(0.24)
Johnson/Gray (Lib.)
12,926
(0.82)
LaRiva/Beacham (PSL)
372
(0.02)
Harris/Kennedy (SWP)
445
( 0.03)
Litzel/Litzel
1,027
(0.06)
Write-Ins
7,442
(0.47)
Total........1,582,180

2012 Overview
Iowa was one of the battleground states.  In the Nov. 2008 general election, Democrats had a registration edge of more than five percentage points; this time the margin was much narrower.  After healthy investments of resources by both of the major campaigns, Obama won with a reduced plurality of 91,927 votes (5.81 percentage points), carrying 38 counties to 61 for Romney.  Iowa had the sixth highest turnout as a percentage of voting eligilble population (after MN, WI, NH, CO and ME). 
General Election Details
Obama  | 
Romney
BALLOT [PDF]

General Election -- Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Voting Eligible Population*: 2,199,849.
VEP Highest Office Turnout Rate: 69.9%.
...turnout rate fifth highest in the nation.


Total Registration: 2,003,901.
Rep. 592,397 (29.56%)   Dem. 698,839  (34.87%)   No-Party 711,705 (35.52%)  Other 960.

According to the Secretary of State, "Iowa has one of the top registration rates in the nation with 92-percent of voting-eligible Iowans registered to vote."

According to the Secretary of State, county auditors received 557,000 absentee ballots.
Official Results >


+Obama/Biden (Dem.)
828,940
(53.93)
McCain/Palin (Rep.)
682,379
(44.39)
Baldwin/Castle (Const.) 4,445
(0.29)
McKinney/Clemente (Grn.) 1,423
(0.09)
Barr/Root (Lib.) 4,590
(0.30)
Nader/Gonazalez (P&F) 8,014
(0.52)
Harris/Kennedy (SWP)
292

La Riva/Moses (PSL)
121

Moore/Alexander (Soc.)
182

Write-Ins
6,737
(0.44)
Total........1,537,123

Over votes: 2,338
Under votes: 4,504

...Total turnout: 1,546,453  
2008 Overview
In contrast to the very close races in 2004 and 2008, Obama won Iowa fairly comfortably, gaining a plurality of 146,561 votes (9.54 percentage points).  Obama-Biden carried 53 counties to 46 for McCain-Palin.

Turnout of 1.54 million surpassed the 2004 record of 1.52 million.
General Election Details
Obama/Allies  |  McCain/Allies  |  Nader

General Election -- Tuesday, November 2, 2004
Voting Eligible Population*: 2,156,389.
VEP Highest Office Turnout Rate: 69.9%.

Registration: Rep. 609,046 (30.89%)   Dem. 601,388 (30.50%)   No-Party 761,301 (38.61%)... Total 1,971,735.
 

Early voting begins and absentee ballots mailed starting: September 23, 2004.

Voter registration deadline: October 23, 2004  
Official Results


Kerry/Edwards (Dem.)
741,898
(49.23)
+Bush/Cheney (Rep.)
751,957
(49.90)
Peroutka/Baldwin (Const.) 1,304 (0.09)
Cobb/LaMarche (IAGrn.) 1,141
(0.08)
Badnarik/Campagna (Lib.)
2,992
(0.20)
Harris/Trowe (SWP)
373
(0.02)
Nader/Camejo (Petition)
5,973
(0.40)
Van Auken/Lawrence (Petition)
176
(0.01)
Write-Ins
1,904
(0.13)
Total........1,506,908
 

2004 Overview
Iowans saw much of Sen. Kerry during the caucuses campaign.  Kerry later gave close consideration to Gov. Tom Vilsack as a potential running mate.  In the closing weeks of the campaign the candidates and surrogates made frequent visits.  When the votes were counted, Iowa had flipped Republican; Bush-Cheney narrowly won with a plurality of 10,059 votes (0.67 percentage points).  Bush carried 67 counties to Kerry's 32.  191,345 more votes were cast in the presidential race than in 2000.
General Election Details  |  Photos
Kerry/Allies  |  Bush-Cheney '04

General Election -- Tuesday, November 7, 2000

Voting Eligible Population*: 2,082,950.
VEP Highest Office Turnout Rate: 63.2%.


Registration: Rep. 590,209 (32.05%)   Dem. 565,561 (30.71%)   No-Party 685,576 (37.23%)... Total 1,841,346.


Official Results


+Gore/Lieberman (Dem.)
638,517
 (48.54)
Bush/Cheney (Rep.)
634,373
(48.22)
Browne/Olivier (Lib.)
3,209
(0.24)
Nader/LaDuke (Grn.)
29,374
(2.23)
Buchanan/Foster (Ref.)
5,731
(0.44)
Harris/Trowe (SWP)
190
 (0.01)
Phillips/Frazier (Const.)
  613
(0.05)
McReynolds/Hollis (Soc.)
107
(0.01)
Hagelin/Goldhaber (pet.)
2,281
(0.17)
Scattering
1,168
(0.09)
Total........1,315,563

2000 Overview
The Gore-Lieberman ticket eked out a narrow win, finishing with a plurality of just 4,144 votes (0.32 percentage points).  Bush carried 68 counties to Gore's 31.  Typically in Iowa Democratic candidates do well East of I-35, the main North-South highway, and Republicans do well in the West.  This held true in 2000 as Bush swept all counties in the Western-most quarter of the state, while Gore did well in counties along the Mississippi River in the East, as well as in the Des Moines-Fort Dodge and Mason City areas. 
General Election Activity

1992 and 1996 General Elections
Archive Pages: 2012 | 2008 | 2004 | 2000 1992
Clinton (Dem.)........586,353
(43.28)
Bush (Rep.)...........504,891
(37.27)
Perot (Ind.) ...........253,468
(18.71)
Others(11+w/ins).......9,895
(0.73) 
Total........1,354,607

1996
Clinton (Dem.).......620,258
(50.26)
Dole (Rep.)............492,644
(39.92)
Perot (Ref.)............105,159
(8.52)
Others (5+w/ins).....16,014
(1.30)
Total........1,234,075