Republican President Donald Trump is heading to Iowa to shore up Republicans’ chances going into a midterm election in which his party’s candidates look unexpectedly vulnerable in the state he carried by 13 percentage points in 2024.
Trump plans to hold a pair of pre-election rallies on Oct. 22 and Nov. 1, according to a news release from the Republican Party of Iowa. Further details about the locations were not immediately available.
“I just got off the phone with President Trump,” Republican Party of Iowa Chair Jeff Kaufmann said in a statement. “He told me that he will be in Iowa on October 22 and November 1. He is anxious for Iowans to hear his message before they vote. Stay tuned for further details.”
Trump previously promised to come to Iowa to campaign on behalf of Republican Rep. Ashley Hinson, who is running for the Senate against Democratic state Rep. Josh Turek.
“We’re going to do a great rally, and we’ll all be there together,” Trump told Hinson in the Oval Office Sept. 28. “We have to get you all elected.”
Hinson promised to “save you a good Iowa pork chop, sir.”
President Donald Trump listens to Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds speak during the announcement of a Minnesota company’s plan to build a $15 billion steel mill in Iowa, next to US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, US Export-Import Bank Chairman John Jovanovic, US Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-IA) and US Rep. Ashley Hinson (R-IA) at the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, D.C., Sept. 28, 2026.
A Real Clear Politics rolling average of polls shows Iowa’s Senate race in a near-dead heat, giving Turek about a one percentage-point advantage over Hinson.
Iowa has emerged as a key battleground as Republicans look to protect their majority in the Senate and Democrats seek to flip what had been reliably red states in their favor.
Iowa is home to as many as three competitive U.S. House races. Elections analysts at Cook Political Report rate the 1st and 3rd Districts as “leaning” toward Democrats and the 2nd District as a “toss-up.”
The governor’s race is also hotly contested as Democrat Rob Sand takes on Republican Zach Lahn. Polling of that race has consistently favored Sand as he looks to reverse a GOP win streak.
These will be Trump’s first trips to Iowa since his January rally in Clive. He has routinely campaigned in Iowa in the weeks before Election Day, making October or November stops in the 2016, 2018, 2020 and 2022 races.
Trump will travel to Iowa as approval ratings sour ahead of midterms
But the visits also come as Trump’s approval ratings sour in Iowa and across the country.
A New York Times/Siena poll of likely Iowa voters conducted Sept. 22-Oct. 1 found 40% of likely Iowa voters approve of the way Trump is handling his job as president, and 58% disapprove.
According to the poll, just 19% of likely Iowa voters say think Trump’s policies have generally helped the state, while 50% say they think his policies have generally hurt in the state. Another 27% say they have not made much of a difference.
President Donald Trump points into the crowd during a rally at Horizon Events Center on Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2026 in Clive.
At some points, Republican candidates, including Hinson, have put some distance between themselves and some of Trump’s more polarizing policies.
U.S. Reps. Zach Nunn and Mariannette Miller-Meeks, who are both running for reelection in battleground House districts, broke with Republicans to support a resolution to curb Trump’s war powers and bring the war in Iran to an end. Hinson voted against the resolution, but said “the war needs to be brought to a successful and immediate end.”
None of those three candidates attended a Sept. 18 rally in Council Bluffs with Vice President JD Vance.
Still, Republican officials in Iowa say the president is a key driver of enthusiasm for base voters, who they need to ensure turn out to vote.
Jeff Kaufmann said on a Sept. 25 episode of “Iowa Press” on Iowa PBS that Trump still has “a huge role to fill” in motivating Republican base voters in Iowa.
“If Donald Trump called me right now and said, ‘I’m coming to the 4th District, Jeff,’ I would offer to pick him up,” he said.
According to October data from the Iowa Secretary of State, there are about 180,000 more registered Republicans in Iowa than registered Democrats.
“If Republicans show up, we will win,” Lahn said at an Oct. 9 event in Jefferson. “The numbers are in our favor.”
Brianne Pfannenstiel is the chief politics reporter for the Des Moines Register. She writes about campaigns, elections and the Iowa Caucuses. Reach her at bpfann@dmreg.com or 515-284-8244. Follow her on X at @brianneDMR.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Trump will hold two pre-election rallies in Iowa to support GOP
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