As we do every four years, Daily Kos Elections is calculating the results of the 2016 presidential election for all 435 congressional districts, and this series of posts explores the most interesting results on a state-by-state basis. You can find our complete data set here, which we’re updating continuously as the precinct-level election returns we need for our calculations become available. You can also click here to learn more about why this data is so difficult to come by.
Safe to say, Iowa was an ugly state for Democrats in 2016. While Barack Obama carried the Hawkeye State 52-46 in 2012, Donald Trump won it 52-42. And though Obama carried three of the state's four congressional districts, Trump took all four this time.
The 1st District, which includes Cedar Rapids and Dubuque, swerved from 56-43 Obama to 49-45 Trump. Democrats targeted freshman Rep. Rod Blum in 2016, but he defeated Monica Vernon 54-46, running quite a bit ahead of the top of the ticket.
The 2nd District, which includes Iowa City, also swung from 56-43 Obama to 49-45 Trump. Rep. Dave Loebsack is the only Democrat left in Iowa's congressional delegation, and he defeated a Some Dude opponent 54-46. Let this be a warning flare, then: Loebsack had close calls in both 2010 and 2014, and it's a good bet that the GOP will field a stronger challenger next time.
The Des Moines-area 3rd District went from 51-47 Obama to also 49-45 Trump. Democrats targeted freshman Republican Rep. David Young, but he defeated Democrat Jim Mowrer 53-40. The 4th District, represented by the infamous GOP Rep. Steve King, went 53-45 for Mitt Romney four years ago, and Trump utterly dominated 61-34 here.