President Donald Trump's administration is "flooding" Iowa with Cabinet officials over election fears as polling paints a grim picture.
According to The Wall Street Journal, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth stood inside a bar at the Iowa State Fair on Monday, delivering what amounted to a 19-minute campaign speech for Rep. Zach Nunn, a Republican in a surprising "toss-up" House race.
"According to the lawyers, I'm only here in a personal capacity today," Hegseth said, adding that when Nunn "asked if I'd come on out here, it was an absolute no-brainer. We need those reinforcements in Washington, D.C. We need him to continue to be there."
Hegseth isn't alone in rushing into the reliably red state to prop up "shaky" GOP candidates.
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent also made the trip, joined by SBA Administrator Kelly Loeffler, Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer.
According to the report, the scramble is notable because Iowa wasn't supposed to be competitive.
"It [Iowa] backed President Trump by 13 percentage points in the 2024 election, and all six members of Iowa’s congressional delegation are Republicans. The Democratic National Committee was so disillusioned with prospects in the state that it ended a roughly five-decade tradition of Iowa hosting the party’s first presidential nominating contest," the Journal is reporting before adding, "Despite that history, nonpartisan analysts rate the state’s race for governor and two of its four U.S. House contests as tossups either party could win. Iowa also has an open Senate seat race rated “lean Republican” by the nonpartisan Cook Political Report."
Analysts point to rural economic strain — high fuel and fertilizer costs alongside stagnant grain prices — following Trump's tariff push with longtime Trump voters "voicing frustration over the economy and the ongoing war with Iran."
