Iowa isn’t becoming a new Missouri , it’s becoming what Iowa was before the farm crises . Before the farm crises Iowa was a ruby red state that voted more republican from 1856-1984 than Kansas did as it only voted Dem 5 times until 1984 . From 1988-2012 it voted democratic 6 times so it’s not really a traditional democratic state at all .
It’s literally just a Dukakis/Bill Clinton/Obama dem state
Looking at just whether they voted R or D isn't really fair, especially considering how much of a R landslide most elections were between the VRA and the 90s. 1976 was the only D win, and IA was really close, with Carter doing better in IA than in MI and neighboring IL. IA was also Mondale's best midwestern state outside of MN.
Iowa voted against FDR in his last two elections. OSR is right that it's actually an ancestrally Republican state that happened to get friendlier to Democrats in the 80s because of the farm crisis.
