Iowa’s red shift, with working-class towns leaving the Democratic Party en masse, was the harbinger for Trump’s success in 2016, while big swaths of rural Iowa that backed Barack Obama are hostile to his party now. President Trump bested former vice president Joe Biden to secure Iowa’s six electoral votes.
The Post is publishing preliminary results from national and state exit polls that allow readers to explore demographic trends in the 2020 vote. These surveys randomly sample voters in three ways: in-person, as they exited voting places on or before Election Day, and by telephone, through a survey of more than 25,000 early voters, to help account for the huge increase of votes cast early.
Containing the coronavirus now, even if it hurts the economy48% of voters
18%
80%
Rebuilding the economy now, even if it hurts efforts to contain the coronavirus46%
89%
8%
Senate exit poll
In the Iowa U.S. Senate race, the incumbent, Joni Ernst, a Republican, defeated Theresa Greenfield, a Democrat. Ernst has represented Iowa in the Senate since 2015.
Who won each group in Iowa
Groups that candidates won by six or more percentage points
Containing the coronavirus now, even if it hurts the economy48% of voters
80%
17%
Rebuilding the economy now, even if it hurts efforts to contain the coronavirus46%
10%
87%
Methodology
Preliminary national and state exit poll results from interviews of randomly selected voters as they exited voting places across the country on Nov. 3, as well as from voters exiting early voting locations. Early voters were also reached through a telephone survey. The polls were conducted by Edison Research for the National Election Pool, The Washington Post and other media organizations. Results are weighted to match vote tallies by region and to correct for differential participation by subgroup.
Donald Trump
Joe Biden