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Anonymous wrote:Iowa Poll: Democrats are preferred over Republicans in 2 of 4 congressional districts
Statewide, voters virtually tie in preference for a Democrat or a Republican for the U.S. House of Representatives, 45% to 44%.
By a 16-point margin, likely Iowa voters prefer a Democrat over a Republican in the 1st District, where Democrat Christina Bohannan and Republican U.S. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks are competing.
By a 7-point advantage, likely voters prefer a Democrat over a Republican in the 3rd District, where Democrat Lanon Baccam is challenging Republican U.S. Rep. Zach Nunn.
https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/politics/iowa-poll/2024/11/03/iowa-poll-democrats-preferred-over-republicans-congress-nunn-baccam-miller-meeks-bohannan-hinson/75988058007/
I did a lot of organizing and canvassing in Iowa in 2020, and we just barely eked out a Democratic victory in only one of the four congressional districts.
If the above is true, this is an enormous shift in 4 years. Huge.
More likely that is evidence this is a bad poll. The newspaper is not releasing the crosstabs.
Incumbents without scandal don't lose by these big margins. In 2022, the biggest was 8, by someone who was hurt by redistricting.
But this incumbent is a rubber stamp for the dysfunctional do-nothing GOP House, in a district that is only R+3, is mostly urban (to the extent that Davenport and Iowa City are urban), and may prefer a representative who believes that the government should function competently. This seat had flipped back and forth in four consecutive elections before 2022 when it was redrawn.
Flipping is plausible. D+16 is not.
You might think so, but there could be a big shift among women in these cities. There appears to be a snowball effect among older women and college women, as there was in other cities and suburbs in 2018 and 2020. The release of the poll may actually contribute to it.
No one talks about secondary persuasion any more but it is a major part of campaign strategy and it is what is happening with the snowball effect for Harris among urban and suburban women.
People who are active in their communities directly and indirectly influence their family, friends, coworkers, social circle, and even some people they don’t know. When people see others in their social sphere whose opinions they respect are supporting a candidate or cause, they are more receptive to that campaign.
I organized Democratic campaign volunteer efforts around secondary persuasion, focusing on local business and community leaders who would influence others within their spheres. Blue Dog Democrats survived in conservative districts by building nonpartisan networks of supporters among independent and Republican leaning business and community leaders. People are more receptive to the opinions of people they know than to campaign ads or appeals from strangers.
This is how a state or Congressional district can swing by 20% in an election, not one voter at a time, but by triggering social group dynamics. That happened for Trump in 2016 and it is happening against Trump and for Harris among women in 2024. There is a snowballing effect in play that is flipping women in big numbers.
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