ELECTORAL VOTES 7

2008 ELECTION Swing State

ABOUT
IOWA

Iowa gained statehood in December 1846. It is currently a swing state in presidential races. In 2004, it reversed a string of four straight Democratic victories by picking George Bush over John Kerry by just 0.8%, or about 10,000 votes. Only Wisconsin had a closer tally, percentage-wise. Prior to that, the state mostly voted Republican, choosing a candidate from that party all but five times from the Civil War years through 1988. After peaking at 13 from the 1880s through 1920s, Iowa gradually lost electoral clout as the state’s population growth slowed relative to the rest of the country. Today, the state has seven electoral votes and there is a chance that that number could drop to six in 2012, pending the outcome of the 2010 census. However, the closeness of the general election vote and the importance of its caucuses, which kick off the nominating process every election cycle, give the citizens of Iowa great influence on who ultimately gets elected president.