Early Iowa Tea Leaf Falls
by ALEX SEITZ-WALD
WASHINGTON — There are only about 30,000 people in Iowa’s 82nd state House district, near Ottumwa, but Democrats are hailing a victory in a special election there Tuesday as another early indicator of a backlash against President Donald Trump that could fuel big wins in next year’s midterms.
The southeast Iowa district has been trending away from Democrats, voting for former President Barack Obama twice before breaking heavily for Trump last year, just like the entire state of Iowa. But Democrat Phil Miller, a veterinarian, carried the district with 54 percent of the vote Tuesday in a race to replace a Democrat who died in office.
“Tonight’s victory in a district Trump won by 21 points just last fall is a testament to Democrats’ strength in deep red districts, and with Representative-elect Miller in the Iowa House we’re one step closer to regaining the chamber,” said Jessica Post, the executive director of the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee, the official legislative campaign arm for Democrats ...
http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/democrats-vs-trump/early-iowa-tea-leaf-falls-against-trump-n791096