Why Iowa Voted for Trump

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa—As it turned out, the most dire thing about Monday’s Republican Party presidential caucuses in Iowa wasn’t the weather.

At Cedar Rapids’ Salvation Army Community Center, the caucus site for two of the city’s 51 precincts, the sentiments from many participants were heavy on the doom and gloom. Those slowly filing in to register in the gymnasium sounded less optimistic about America in 2024 than the chances of a Tuesday thaw.

For days, we’d been told the vicious cold here could and probably would keep caucus attendance down. Wind chill advisories filled the airwaves. And make no mistake: It’s cold here. It was 3 degrees below zero (on its way to a projected overnight low of minus 13) when the Salvation Army caucuses concluded at 7:50 p.m., a mere half hour after they had begun. The wind wasn’t all that cantankerous in southwest Cedar Rapids, though, and the attendees weren’t at all stymied by the conditions outdoors. At least, it was nothing that would keep about 135 people from this site as they tried to do their bit to right perceived wrongs.

“It’s the most important election,” Patricia Meyers told me before the proceedings started. “The last election, Donald Trump won rightfully, and he should have been our president. The country would not have been in the shape it’s in now. This is very important that we show up and we make sure there’s no cheating in this election.”

The 2020 election, Meyers said, “was illegitimate. That election was stolen.”

That was an almost indecisive comment compared to the seven-minute speech for Trump delivered by Craig Seeley, a retiree who had worked at Cedar Rapids–based avionics and informational technology systems corporation Rockwell Collins. Seeley cited three Bible passages, then said: “Here’s the most important thing: Are we really going to let them get away with it? Is that what we’re going to do?

“They treated [Trump] lower than a dog for four years. And if we let them do that to him and not vote Donald Trump back in, and if they get a Republican in as the next president, they’ll try to do the same thing because they will think that they won. They’ll have kept Donald Trump from keeping his third inaugural because they cheated on the second one.”

Not everyone here was Trump-or-nothing. People gave speeches touting Ron DeSantis and Vivek Ramaswamy. A man with fuchsia-colored hair sported a button that read “I Pick Nikki.” And the vote totals in both precincts mirrored the statewide results. Precinct No. 19 had 38 votes for Trump, 17 for DeSantis, 16 for Nikki Haley, 13 for Ramaswamy. At Precinct No. 20, Trump got 25 votes—with 12 for Haley, 8 for DeSantis, and 4 for Ramaswamy.

Robert Salvador, a Miami business owner, said he flew to Chicago Friday and drove through a blizzard to Iowa to stump for DeSantis, even though “I’ve never been involved in politics in my life.”

Like the two people who stood up to speak for Ramaswamy, Salvador professed love and respect for Trump but said, “Drama doesn’t follow [DeSantis]. Not only will he stop the deep state, he’ll save Donald Trump from going to jail.”

That was the closest thing uttered the whole evening to a mention of the four indictments and 91 criminal charges that Trump faces.

“He’s very honest and very forward,” said Jessica Lewis, a young woman who served as temporary chairperson for Precinct No. 19 and was supporting Trump.

Lewis said she’s looking for “justice for the people to get what America needs back in this country. Safety. Connections. Better borders. Keep drugs and gangs out, and terrorists. I believe we should protect what we have and make it stronger.”

Her motivation for attending? “Coming together and making world peace.”

After the short speeches made on behalf of candidates, caucusgoers checked a box on the paper ballots they were given.

While Lewis and three assistants counted and re-counted the votes, almost everyone else left the building and headed home, with enough time to watch the second half of an NFL playoff game or the Emmys or just park themselves by a nice, hot fire. It wasn’t going to get any warmer outside, so they hustled to their cars and homes and heat while those who continue to seek the nomination have left us to chase the hearts in New Hampshire.

Hearts may have been a little lighter here Monday night. It’s supposed to get all the way up to 12 degrees by Wednesday. Even better, perhaps, is the knowledge that the monthslong barrage of campaign commercials in Iowa is over. Ryan Binkley, a long-shot Republican presidential candidate (and pastor and businessman) from Dallas, ran the last of his TV ads late Monday afternoon during a break in a local newscast.

“I’m still here, Iowa!” Binkley said in the commercial.

Of all the ballots cast at Cedar Rapids’ Salvation Army Monday, Binkley got zero. And now he’s gone too.