The 2026 midterm election is unlike any other in recent memory. Amid the backdrop of misinformation campaigns about noncitizen voters, federal attempts to strip election authority from states, and large-scale protests against federal power grabs, election administrators from coast to coast are on high alert.
Even in Iowa, a Republican stronghold where the balance of power in both the US House and Senate could hang, concerns are growing that President Trump and his allies in Washington will seek to interfere. Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate, an elected Republican whose department complied with Department of Justice requests for voter data, has publicly pushed back against the President’s attempts to assert federal control of state-run elections.
What do Iowa voters think?
Along with our national poll last week, If You Can Keep It and YouGov conducted a separate poll of Iowa voters. This poll surveyed 417 Iowa voters and was fielded between October 9 and October 22. The margin of error for this poll is ±5.4 percentage points.
The poll finds that Iowa voters maintain high trust in their state elections and strongly disapprove of the Trump administration’s attempts to interfere. Voters in Iowa are also highly willing to push back against Iowan state and local officials who attempt to deny election results.
This poll paints a clear picture: the federal government’s attempts to cast doubt on the midterm elections are failing in Iowa.
