Iowa's Urban-Rural Divide Increased in 2020 Presidential Election

DES MOINES, Iowa - A county-by-county breakdown of Iowa’s Presidential vote in 2020 compared to 2016 shows that Vice President Joe Biden outperformed Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in urban counties.

In Linn County, Vice President Biden improved on Secretary Clinton by 5 points. In fact, the percentage of Democratic presidential votes increased in all six counties that the the party carried in 2016 and 2020.

Those counties - Polk, Story, Johnson, Lynn, Blackhawk and Scott - contain the largest urban areas in Iowa.

Dallas County, which is part of the Des Moines metro area, voted for President Donald Trump in both the 2016 and 2020 elections. But the President's margin of victory in the county dropped sharply - from nearly 10 points in 2016 to two points in 2020.

But President Trump increased his margins in nearly all rural counties, which account for a larger share of Iowa's population.

President Barack Obama carried numerous rural counties when he won the state in 2008 and 2012.


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