Why bright-red Iowa may now be a toss-up

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🗓️ 1 June 2026

⏱️ 21 minutes

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Summary

President Trump's standing in the polls has dipped in Iowa, a state he won three times. During primary voting, Democrats hope to pick up an open Senate seat and other Congressional seats. Radio Iowa news director Kay Henderson shares what’s at stake.

Then, roughly 60 candidates are on the ballot to succeed California Gov. Gavin Newsom, but with primary voting ending Tuesday, there is no clear frontrunner. KQED politics correspondent Marisa Lagos explains more.

And, WBUR political reporter Anthony Brooks breaks down the sexting scandal involving Graham Platner, a Democratic Senate candidate in Maine, and shares what voters there make of it.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	WBUR Podcasts, Boston.
0:06.5	Democrats point to 2018, a midterm election during Trump's first term when three Democrats won the four seats in Iowa.
0:17.2	Republicans control all levels of government in Iowa, but some of them are nervous heading into the midterm elections.
0:25.9	It's Monday, June 1st, and this is here and now anytime from NPR and WBUR.
0:31.1	I'm Chris Bentley.
0:47.7	Today on the show, there are primaries this week in six states, and no offense to Montana,
0:49.9	New Jersey, New Mexico, or South Dakota.
0:56.7	But we are going to focus on two states today, Iowa and California. Find out what's going on there in just a few minutes. Also, Maine Democrat Graham Platner's Senate campaign fends off more
1:04.1	controversy. Revelations, he was sexting women after he was married. His wife is defending him.
1:11.1	No marriage is perfect, and I don't want a perfect marriage.
1:15.7	I want my marriage, and I want to be married to Graham.
1:19.1	But what do voters think?
1:21.7	We'll hear from a few of them coming up at about 10 minutes.
1:25.1	But first, Democrats in Iowa think they have a real shot at winning an open
1:31.3	Senate seat and flipping two or three seats in Congress. It will not be easy. President Trump won
1:38.2	Iowa three times in a row. Republicans control both chambers of the state legislature and hold
1:43.8	almost every statewide office there.
1:47.4	Last year, two-term Republican Senator Joni Ernst decided not to run again,
1:52.2	and this week, Democrats will settle on the man they'll nominate to replace her.
1:57.1	Kay Henderson, news director at Radio Iowa, tells Peter O'Dowd,
2:04.6	the Democratic race has winnowed down from five candidates to two.
2:12.1	It's Josh Turrick. He is a state legislator from Council Bluffs, which is part of the Omaha Metro.
	...

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