From the Iowa Caucuses to the White House - Understanding Donald Trump's 2016 Electoral Victory in Iowa

Donald Trump won a significant victory in Iowa in 2016. Although Iowa was carried by Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012, Trump won the popular vote in 93 of its 99 counties, 32 of which were carried by Obama in 2012. What explains this significant victory, in which a third of Iowa's counties were flipped? Through a mixed-methods approach, this volume demonstrates that Trump's electoral victory was shaped by three key factors: firstly, the electorate's desire for "change" in Washington, D.C.; secondly, Trump's successful appeals to both the Republican base and white, working-class voters who had previously supported Barack Obama; and thirdly, Iowa's conservative ideological tendency regarding immigration and race. While contributing to emerging literature on the 2016 presidential elections, this book also serves to aid educators with a published resource on Iowa's electoral politics.

List of contents

1. Introduction.- 2. Description of the Campaign: From the Iowa Caucuses to the General Election.- 3. Explaining County-Level Support for Donald Trump and the Shift from 2012 to 2016.- 4. Explaining Individual-Level Support for Donald Trump.- 5. Concluding Chapter.

About the author

Andrew D. Green is Professor of Political Science at Central College in Pella, IA, USA.

Summary

Donald Trump won a significant victory in Iowa in 2016. Although Iowa was carried by Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012, Trump won the popular vote in 93 of its 99 counties, 32 of which were carried by Obama in 2012. What explains this significant victory, in which a third of Iowa’s counties were flipped? Through a mixed-methods approach, this volume demonstrates that Trump’s electoral victory was shaped by three key factors: firstly, the electorate’s desire for “change” in Washington, D.C.; secondly, Trump’s successful appeals to both the Republican base and white, working-class voters who had previously supported Barack Obama; and thirdly, Iowa’s conservative ideological tendency regarding immigration and race. While contributing to emerging literature on the 2016 presidential elections, this book also serves to aid educators with a published resource on Iowa's electoral politics.

Product details

• Authors: Andrew D. Green
• Publisher: Springer, Berlin
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 05.08.2019
• EAN: 9783030224981
• ISBN: 978-3-0-3022498-1
• No. of pages: 144
• Dimensions: 152 mm x 218 mm x 15 mm
• Weight: 340 g
• Illustrations: XVII, 144 p. 10 illus.
• Series: Palgrave Studies in US Elections
• Subjects: Social sciences, law, business > Political science > Comparative and international political science; Soziologie, C, Amerika, Sociology, Political Science, Political Sociology, Politics & government, Political Science and International Studies, United States of America, USA, Elections & referenda, elections, Electoral Politics, US Politics, United States—Politics and government, American Politics, Wahlen und Volksabstimmungen / Wahlrecht, White Evangelical Voters, immigration and voting, invisible primary, Rural-Urban Divide, Working-Classic Voters, Swing state, Iowa political elites