Iowa Delegation Projected to Shift Sharply Left
An Institute for Legislative Analysis scorecard projects Iowa's incoming congressional delegation will show the largest leftward shift of any state.
Updated on Nov. 9, 2026 in Legislative Policy
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The Institute for Legislative Analysis projects Iowa's incoming congressional delegation will align with the 2024 Republican platform on 40.07% of weighted votes, down from 78.77% for the outgoing delegation. The projected decline of 38.70 percentage points is the largest leftward shift of any state.
Why it matters
The scorecard measures how closely lawmakers' votes track the party platform, offering a benchmark for Iowans assessing how their representatives are voting. The projected change follows a delegation whose members all supported the 2025 One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
The projected alignment with the 2024 Republican platform falls from 78.77% for the outgoing Iowa delegation to 40.07% for the incoming one, a 38.70-point drop. The scorecard covers 10 chapters spanning inflation, immigration, taxes and the economy, education, government, and national security.
The players
Institute for Legislative Analysis
A nonpartisan research organization that produces scorecards measuring how closely congressional votes align with party platforms.
Josh Turek
A Democrat elected to the Iowa Senate seat, included in the incoming Iowa congressional delegation projected to shift left.
Chris McGowan
A Republican representative-elect in Iowa's incoming congressional delegation.
The details
The Institute reviews congressional records to identify votes tied to the party platform and assigns each vote a weight based on how closely it aligns with that platform. The incoming delegation includes Democratic Sen.-elect Josh Turek, Democratic Reps.-elect Christina Bohannan, Lindsay James, and Sarah Trone Garriott, and Republican Rep.-elect Chris McGowan.
Timeline
September 2025: The House voted on a resolution directing the president to remove U.S. forces from hostilities with Iran unless Congress authorized the action.
2025: The One Big Beautiful Bill Act passed, and all four outgoing Iowa lawmakers voted for it.
2024: The Republican Party platform was adopted and used as the scorecard benchmark.
November 9, 2026: The Institute published the study projecting Iowa's congressional shift leftward.
Legislative Policy Tracking
The projection applies the Institute for Legislative Analysis's platform-alignment scorecard, which weights congressional votes by how closely they match the party platform, to a newly elected Iowa delegation. The method extends the Institute's prior scorecard measurements to a new cohort of lawmakers.
The scorecard gives Iowa voters a measurable benchmark for how closely their representatives' votes track the party platform. Residents can compare the projected 40.07% alignment against the outgoing delegation's 78.77% when assessing future votes.
The takeaway
Voting alignment scorecards offer a way to compare a delegation's record against a stated party platform over time. Iowa readers can use the 10-chapter breakdown to see which policy areas drive the projected shift.
Further reading
For more on how lawmakers' votes are tracked against party platforms, see Legislative Policy coverage.
Source note: This article includes information reported by KCCI.
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