Election 2024: Iowa Republicans using immigration to try and boost turnout
DES MOINES, Iowa (Gray Media Iowa Capitol Bureau) - Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds held her annual Harvest Festival fundraiser in Des Moines Saturday, where she made immigration a key message.
Immigration remains a key issue for many voters. According to the Pew Research Center, 60% of voters say immigration is important to them. For Republican voters, 82% say it’s very important to them.
With 30 days to go until the election, these Republican leaders are trying to use that to make sure their base turns out to the polls.
At the fundraiser, Rep. Ashley Hinson said, “Do you want open borders? No.”
“In all my combat tours, I never thought that there would be a situation I would be called home to have to help to defend our own homeland right here in Iowa from something that’s happening on our border,” Rep. Zach Nunn said.
“Every single state is a border state,” Reynolds said.
In a push to get voters to the polls, Governor Kim Reynolds invited Texas Governor Greg Abbott to speak at the event.
“I invited Governor Abbott tonight so that he can give us a real, raw account of the mess Kamala Harris has made at the southern border,” Reynolds said.
Abbott says Texas needs the help of states like Iowa, who recently sent the Iowa National Guard to the border, to help combat undocumented migrants now living in the U.S. “It’s no exaggeration to say that the future of the United States of America on this one issue alone is in peril,” Abbott said.
Democrats point out that Donald Trump helped kill an immigration bill that Republicans helped to put together.
Congressman Zach Nunn warned Iowans to not just vote for Trump and to remember to vote for Republicans in congress too. “When Iowa elects Donald Trump to the President of the United States, we could lose the House of Representatives,” Nunn said.
In-person early voting at county auditors’ offices begins October 16th.
Reynolds says she hopes members of her party vote early.
“So we’re asking all of you. Kevin and I is going to vote early. We’re encouraging you to go in and vote,” she said.
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Conner Hendricks covers state government and politics for Gray Media-owned stations in Iowa. Email him at conner.hendricks@gray.tv; and follow him on Facebook at Conner Hendricks TV or on X/Twitter @ConnerReports.
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