The new congressional maps for Iowa include three competitive seats. | File Photo
The new congressional maps for Iowa include three competitive seats. | File Photo
New Iowa House maps are believed to create more competitive seats, but advantage Republicans overall.
The new congressional maps for Iowa include three competitive districts, Politico reported Oct. 28.
“Iowa’s Republican-controlled state legislature approved a new congressional map that gives the GOP an opportunity to win all four House districts in the 2022 election" Bloomberg Government said in a post to its official Twitter account on Nov. 1.
The map largely maintains the districts in Iowa as they are right now, which gives the GOP a solid chance at winning all the congressional districts in the state. These maps are setting politics for the next decade in Iowa, the Des Moines Register reported. The GOP, which holds majority in both chambers of Iowa’s legislature, praised the maps as well as the agency’s work in drawing them.
The proposed districts were created by Iowa's nonpartisan Legislative Services Agency, according to Politico. Former President Donald Trump would have carried all of the districts in 2020's election, with one being by a "deep red" margin. The new maps passed both legislative chambers of Iowa's legislature and now only require Republican Gov. Kim Reynold's signature.
Politico also reported that the maps create a complication for current Iowa Reps. Mariannette Miller-Meeks and Cindy Axne, who now live in the same district. Miller-Meeks is a Republican and Axne is a Democrat. Rep. Ashley Hinson continues to hold a competitive seat while Rep. Randy Feenstra holds the deep red seat.
Republicans in the state legislature turned down the first proposal, which would have put Republican incumbent Hinson in a deep blue seat. Due to the competitive nature of the elections, with the new map, many millions of dollars in outside spending are anticipated, according to Politico.
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