NBC News and Fox News called Iowa for Donald Trump on Tuesday night, bringing the Republican nominee closer to clinching the presidency as he continued a streak of wins in key battleground states.
Though the state has gone Democrat in the past two presidential elections, Trump maintained a solid lead in the state throughout the cycle, and he outperformed expectations in the battlegrounds Tuesday night. TPM’s PollTracker Average had Trump leading Clinton 46-40.2 on Tuesday afternoon.
Clinton did not spend much time in the state, making just a few stops in the state after the primaries. Her campaign did try to put a crack in Trump’s hold on the state by targeting Republican women.
The Democratic nominee made her final appeal to voters in Iowa at the end of October.
“Visualize that on the ballot and then compare, compare and contrast what I’ve done the last 30 years with what he has done,” she said in Cedar Rapids, referring to Trump. “What I will do as your president if given the chance to serve and what he will do. Think about every single concern you’ve got … because I want you to join me in voting for a better America.”
Trump and his campaign put more emphasis on Iowa, hoping to secure a solid win in the Midwest battleground state and secure its six electoral votes. Trump made his final visit to the state on Sunday. He tossed in a pitch to Iowa corn farmers by expressing his support for the ethanol industry, but he otherwise spent his speech painting Clinton as corrupt.
“We need a government that can go to work on day one for the American people. That will be impossible with Hillary Clinton, the prime suspect in a far-reaching criminal investigation. Her current scandals and controversies will continue throughout her presidency and will make it virtually impossible for her to govern,” he told a crowd in Sioux City. “Let’s hope we don’t have to think about it. If she ever got into the oval office, Hillary and her special interests would rob our country blind. That’s what she’s been doing.”
The Trump campaign also sent Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) to the state to speak at a rally last week with vice presidential nominee Mike Pence in one of a handful of appearances Cruz had as a surrogate for Trump. Cruz expressed confidence that the would go red and appealed to conservative Iowans, who chose him in the state’s caucus, but the Texas senator never mentioned Trump by name.
“In the last election, Barack Obama won the state of Iowa,” Cruz told the crowd in Prole, Iowa. “But let me tell you right now, thanks to the men and women here and across the state, Hillary Clinton ain’t winning Iowa.”
