SIOUX CITY — President Donald Trump campaigned at Sioux Gateway Airport to boost Republican candidates facing difficult midterm elections, drawing crowds of supporters and merchandise vendors who had driven hundreds of miles for the event.
Outside a hangar, vendors sold Trump merchandise in multiple colors. Ricardo Boyles, a vendor, said he had driven 1,331 miles from Greenville, South Carolina, to reach Iowa by Thursday.
Local supporter Robert Byrne said he would vote for Republicans "up and down the ballot," characterizing the election as "between sanity and insanity."
Sioux City, in Iowa's 4th Congressional District, is Republican territory. Registered Republicans outnumber Democrats by more than 2 to 1 in the district.
But Republicans face a harder statewide fight. Congresswoman Ashley Hinson is running for Senate against Democrat Josh Turek. A Cook Political Report poll shows Turek with a 2-point lead—within the margin of error.
Trump told voters to back Hinson, saying "She will never let far-left maniacs push the radical left insanity on Iowa's children."
In the governor's race, Republican Zach Lahn is challenging Democrat Rob Sand, Iowa's current state auditor. Polls show Sand ahead by 11 points, a significant deficit for Lahn.
Trump's speech lasted over 90 minutes and focused heavily on his administration's record on taxes, foreign policy, and farm support. He also raised transgender rights and attacked "fake news," and reiterated claims that he won the 2020 election.
Trump is scheduled to return to Iowa on November 1, two days before the election.
