Republicans are leading Democrats in ballots cast during early voting in Iowa – a shift from past years,
Fox News reports.
Citing a GOP memo, Fox News reports as of Wednesday, 305 more early and absentee voting returns were received from Republicans than Democrats.
The memo noted at this point in 2010, Democrats led in early and absentee voting returns by 16,426 ballots. In 2008, they led by 56,908.
An Iowa Democratic Party spokeswoman told Fox News she expected the totals would change in coming days.
"Democrats are expanding the midterm electorate and are turning out non-midterm voters, while Republicans are simply encouraging their base to vote early," Christina Freundlich said in a statement. "In requests alone, Democrats hold a 18,000 vote advantage relative to the Republican ballots, and we expect those ballots to flood in over the final days."
But Republicans note the numbers signal the first time the GOP has led in Iowa in modern early voting history.
"The momentum has been building for a long time, but this development means Republicans have crossed a major Democrat firewall that had given them a boost going into Election Day in previous election cycles," Republican Party of Iowa chairman Jeff Kaufmann said in a statement. "Democrats are nowhere near where they need to be, and they are quickly running out of time."
Absentee voting for this November’s midterm election began in Iowa in late September. The premier race is between Democratic Rep. Bruce Braley and Republican state Sen. Joni Ernst for Iowa’s open U.S. Senate seat currently held by Democratic Sen. Tom Harkin.
Ernst
holds the lead in the latest poll with 48 percent among likely voters compared with Braley's 46 percent.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.