Some Iowa Republicans crossed party lines to vote for Democrats, saying their party stopped listening

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (KMTV) — Iowa has roughly 180,000 more Republican voters than Democrats, but some of those Republicans say they voted across party lines in the midterms elections because their party stopped listening to neighbors.
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Republican and former three-term Council Bluffs Mayor Matt Walsh endorsed Democrat — and Council Bluffs native — Josh Turek.

"I was shocked to see how many Turek signs were out in the agricultural communities," Walsh said. "When he announced early on that he was running for the Senate there was no doubt who I was going to support."

Brittany Rockwell lives in Glenwood. She's a mom and Army veteran who worked for Senator Joni Ernst; she voted for Democrat Rob Sand.

"I would say it was weird. It wasn't — it wasn't hard. It was just a feeling of — kind of sadness almost," she said.

Rockwell's work for Sen. Ernst was focused on southwest Iowa counties.

"And I always felt like we listened to the people and felt like the party has just stopped listening to the people in general," she said.

Walsh pointed to economic worries such as the rising cost of living as a reason people vote for a different party.

"When things are going bad, people don't know exactly what they want, they just know what they don't want and that's the old way of doing business."

In Pottawattamie County, there was a 54% turnout, up from 44% in the 2022 midterms.

"The fact that Republican leadership in Washington DC seemed not to acknowledge (financial struggles) that I think was frustrating for people," Walsh said.

Rockwell says she hopes the country can return to common ground.

"And we need to somehow get back to 'It's okay to be a Democrat and it's okay to be a Republican and have different views, but still split bread and share bread and be at the dinner table together."

Both agree — if the newly elected Democrats can't deliver results for Iowans, voters will make different choices next time.

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