Hello John! I hope you’re doing well!
After running for Congress in a mostly rural district in Iowa in 2018 and 2020, I saw firsthand how important it was for Democrats to reach out to rural voters. After all, if we don’t do the outreach, how are we supposed to win hearts and minds for progressive policies?
We recently commissioned a poll to see how rural voters in battleground states view Democratic politicians and policies. Here are some of the eye-popping results from the poll:
Only 50 percent of rural voters know that Joe Biden is responsible for the one-time stimulus payments of $1,400 per family. 39 percent of rural voters think the payment came from Donald Trump
Party ID costs a Democratic candidate 35 points in rural areas
Support for a policy drops by 10 points if rural voters know it’s championed by a Democrat
56 percent of rural voters do NOT have a favorable opinion of the Republican party
This is alarming, John. If Democrats are going to make inroads in rural America, we need to do a much better job of connecting with rural voters. In my 2018 campaign for Congress, we lost by just 3% —fewer than 11K votes—in a district with 70,000 more registered Republicans than Democrats. The same district that Trump defeated Clinton by 27% in 2016.
Rural voter outreach was a huge focus of my campaign. I traveled to all 374 towns and small rural communities in my district. Every. Single. One. Democrats will continue to lose statewide races and state houses if we don’t compete everywhere, especially in rural America.
By 2040, about 70 percent of Americans are expected to live in the 15 largest states. They will have only 30 senators representing them, while the remaining 30 percent of Americans will have 70 senators representing them. Democratic investment in rural areas isn't just a 2022 election plan, it's necessary to prepare for this long term population shift of our country.
Standing Tall for All
J.D. Scholten
P.S. We are just getting our campaign off the ground. Please chip in $5 and help us build the infrastructure we need to get our message out in rural communities!
Paid for by RuralVote.org PAC. Not authorized by any candidate or candidates committee.