Poll: 55 percent of Iowa voters do not support a Grassley reelection campaign

Only 28 percent of Iowans are in favor of a Grassley reelection run.

Published: March 15, 2021 1:37pm

Updated: March 15, 2021 3:28pm

More than half of Iowa residents are opposed to Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley seeking reelection next year, according to a Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa Poll.

Only 28 percent of Iowans are in favor of the 87-year-old Grassley making a bid for an eighth term. The majority, 55 percent, said they hope choses to retire.

Among Republicans, 35 percent said they did not want him to seek another term, compared to 77 percent of Democrats and 54 percent of independents who were surveyed, according to the Des Moines Register.

"I can almost feel the tension as Republican respondents are dealing with it," said J. Ann Selzer, president of Selzer & Co, which did the polling. "He's the most popular senator since the inception of the Iowa Poll and probably the closest thing to a sure bet that they would have for the party."

The poll showed Grassley’s favorability among Iowans at 48 percent, similar to that of recent polls dating back to June 2020. However, compared to previous Iowa Polls going back to 1998, his support has slowly diminished, dropping 12 points since 2019.

The poll comes as Grassley is mulling a decision regarding reelection. He said last month that he expects to make a decision in the fall. He said that the people of Iowa should not doubt his ability to do the job.

"If I can do that every day, I hope nobody has any questions about my ability to conduct a campaign," he said. "It'll be up to the voters to decide whether or not I should be reelected. But I hope they won't say I can't conduct a campaign."

Five Senate Republicans have already said they will not seek another term, making for more competitive races as incumbents have historically been more difficult to beat. With the Senate currently split 50-50, the 2022 election has the potential to drastically change the makeup of Washington.

The poll consisted of 775 Iowa adults being surveyed on March 7-10 by Selzer & Co. of Des Moines. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.