Is Des Moines considered a "disfavored region" for Iowa Democratic statewide candidates?

[TML]

I have heard some people say that Des Moines-based Democratic candidates tend to struggle to win statewide contests in Iowa. Examples cited include Roxanne Conlin (2010), Chet Culver (2010), Jack Hatch (2014), Fred Hubbell (2018), and Theresa Greenfield (2020). If true, this would be similar to how Philadelphia and Milwaukee have been regarded as disfavored regions for Democratic statewide candidates in PA & WI, respectively (Democratic candidates from those areas have seldom managed to win statewide races in the contemporary political era).

Now, I get that Iowa is pretty red nowadays and nearly any Democratic statewide candidate would start out as an underdog, but do you think there is any validity to the theory that Des Moines-based Democratic candidates for statewide office will suffer a "geographic penalty" compared to candidates from elsewhere in the state?

[Roll Roons]

The three states you mention (IA, PA, WI) have fairly populous rural areas that probably don’t take well to candidates perceived as “big city liberals”.

It’s a different case in states like AZ, GA, IL, NY or NV where the largest metro area makes up a much larger share of the population, so Democratic candidates from the large city don’t face as much of a penalty.