SIOUX CITY, Iowa — President Donald Trump‘s loyal base of supporters still have his and Republicans’ back in Iowa, but some are growing concerned over lingering issues, like the economy and gridlock in Congress, as Election Day nears.
Trump and Republicans ran on a platform of lowering inflation, halting “forever wars” and repairing an economy that they say was wrecked by former President Joe Biden and his administration. But prices are still high, and the war in Iran is still ongoing, causing a spike in fuel prices that have stuck around heading into Nov. 3.
Outside of Trump’s rally in Sioux City, Iowa, where the president was set to rile up support for Rep. Ashley Hinson, R-Iowa, in a tightening Senate race against Iowa state Rep. Josh Turek, his supporters who spoke with Fox News Digital still backed Republicans but expressed hope that change would soon come.
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Beth Fitzl, an Iowa voter, said of Trump that she didn’t “agree with everything he does, but in the end, he’s here for us.”
“This is the way I see it,” Fitzl told Fox News Digital. “He’s like the Packers, OK? They may be getting in deep, but they always pull it off in the end, and I truly think he’s going to do something to turn it around. I really think he’s going to pull something to turn it around.”
Chuck Jones, a veteran and Purple Heart recipient who made the trek from Minnesota for the Iowa rally, was frustrated about the divisive, tribal nature of politics.
He told Fox News Digital that “these politicians, they’re fighting for one thing on one side, and other people are fighting for something on the other side, but there’s nobody sitting at the table in the middle.”
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When asked if Republicans and Trump needed to do something different should they hold onto control of Washington, D.C., after the election, Jones said, “Well, I think it’s time that we’re going to have to show some difference, because people aren’t happy with the way things have been in the last few years.”
“And we’re going to have to do something about it and decisively show the American public that you can get it done and get it done correctly,” he said. “They’re going to have to work together instead of fighting each other.”
Hinson’s race is one of six toss-ups that Republicans in the Senate are trying to hold onto. She and Turek are vying for Republican Sen. Joni Ernst’s seat after she opted to retire from the upper chamber last year.
Their race, like others during this cycle, has become surprisingly close, given that Trump won the state in 2024 by roughly 13 points and has won it each time he’s been on the ballot.
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Dawn Stanley, an Iowa voter who has voted for Trump in each of the last three elections, still planned to support him and Hinson. She told Fox News Digital that Turek hadn’t “showed up” for Iowa and noted that he’d been absent from the state legislature “42% of the time” — Turek missed 261 votes between January and May of this year while on the campaign trail.
Still, her biggest frustration with Republicans was their inability to pass the SAVE America Act, voter ID and election security legislation that has been consistently blocked by Senate Democrats.
“I really do think it comes down to the SAVE Act,” Stanley said. “I really do, because we can’t have all these Democrats in there and bringing over all these illegals who are going to vote for those people and have chaos. That’s what it is.”
“The United States is in chaos and I really believe it’s because of the illegals and the Islamic terrorists that are coming over,” she continued. “And just look at what’s going on in France. I mean, it’s terrible. And I don’t want that for our country, and that’s what Trump can stop. And that’s why we need to bring in all the conservatives that we can.”
Others were concerned about Democrats regaining power and feared that Republicans may not show up on Nov. 3 to support GOP candidates.
“We need to get the people out to vote,” Kurt, who traveled from South Dakota for the rally, told Fox News Digital. “Republican people need to get out the vote. They stay home too much. This is a war to be won with the Left, as far as I’m concerned.”