IOWA 6 Electoral Votes 
link to clickable map
Iowa goes from 7 electoral votes to 6 as a result of reapportionment following the 2010 Census
Population 
(Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Iowa Secretary of State)
Total Resident Population, July 1, 2012 est.
 3,074,186
Total Registration, Oct. 22, 2012 (active) 1,936,901 > note also 66,289 Election Day reg.
Rep. 626,508 (32.35%)   Dem. 621,401 (32.08%)   No-Party 686,649 (35.45%)  Other 2,343
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. 
State Legislature: General Assembly  House: 100 seats  Senate: 50 seats
Local: Cities and Counties  NACO Counties
U.S. House: 3D, 2R - 1. B.Braley (D) | 2. D.Loebsack (D) | 3. L.Boswell (D) | 4. T.Latham (R) | 5. S.King (R).
U.S. Senate: Tom Harkin (D) re-elected in 2008, Chuck Grassley (R) re-elected in 2010.
2012
 		U.S. House: Redistricting reduced Iowa from five to four CDs.  In the new 3rd CD two incumbents faced off against each other; Rep. Tom Latham (R) defeated Rep. Leonard Boswell (D) by 202,000 votes (52.22%) to 168,632 (43.59%); two other candidates also ran.  The race in the 4th CD attracted some attention; Rep. Steve King (R) fended off a challenge from former First Lady Christie Vilsack (D) by 200,063 votes (52.94%) to 169,470 (44.85%).
State Legislature: All 100 House seats and 26 Senate seats were up.  Control of the legislature remained split.  Republicans maintained control of the House with a reduced majority (from 59R, 40D and 1v to 53R, 47D) while Democrats kept narrow control in the Senate (from 26D, 24R to 26D, 23R and 1v). 

 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

IowaPolitics.com

Politics1-IA
Ballotpedia-IA


The Hawkeye State
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

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]

[State Primary: June 5, 2012]
Iowa Caucuses -- Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Main Iowa Caucuses Page

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: 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