Visiting Iowa is like opening a time capsule from the not-too-distant past. To anyone born before 2000, the place feels vaguely familiar, like a childhood memory of grandpa’s farm, or making a call from a pay phone.

There are rolling hills dotted by farmhouses, endless acres planted with corn, and dozens of small towns lined with tidy streets and well-kept homes. And there are cows, lots and lots of cows.

Iowa’s pastoral landscapes, low population density, and racial and religious demographics are nearly identical to 1950 America. The state remains almost 90 percent white and predominantly Christian with more than 40 percent of its households in the middle class. It’s a reminder of that seemingly unspoiled time before the Internet fragmented the country into a million micro-demographics and radicalized every political issue.

Visiting the state, it would be tempting to conclude that Iowans themselves have changed as little as the landscape, that they generally hold the same cultural and political views, all think the same, and all vote the same.

But, they don’t, and never did.

Iowa has favored Republican and Democrat presidential candidates in equal numbers since 1976. Despite having supported former President Donald Trump in the previous two elections, there remains a range of political sentiment among Hawkeye voters, even among Republicans.

True, President Trump commands a solid lead in Iowa polls. Yet his popularity there, 49 percent in the most recent polling, is markedly lower than his national average of 62 percent.

Whether it’s Iowa’s place as the first presidential contest, the open-mindedness that makes Iowans so nice, or the independent streak that runs deep in farmers, Iowans tend to think for themselves when it comes to politics.

To find out what matters to them heading into the January caucuses, The Epoch Times conducted a driving tour of the state, meeting with likely Republican voters. We sat down with Iowans in their homes or places of work or favored local hangouts.

Our in-depth conversations ranged from the economy to foreign policy and from the southern border to local school boards. Though we focused on the issues, voters inevitably brought up their preferred candidates. They told us who they’d vote for, and, sometimes, who they’d vote against.

We met voters of varying ages and economic standing who think seriously about politics and relish participation in Iowas caucus tradition. They care deeply about their communities and the state of the world. And they’re deeply concerned about the future of their country. All of them want change.

Here’s what we learned about what matters to Republican voters in the upcoming caucuses.

The Economy

Dave Meggers loves auto racing, the Cubs, and the thrill of betting his fortune every year on the weather. He’s a fourth-generation Iowa farmer.

A Trump 2024 yard sign stands along the gravel road fronting his Scott County farmstead. Mr. Meggers, 50, is a political hybrid, the son of a Democrat mother and a Republican father. But this is conservative country—Mr. Meggers attended the same high school as Arizona U.S. Senate candidate Kari Lake—and the Republican party best represents his values, he says.

His affinity for President Trump took time to develop. During the 2016 primary season, Mr. Meggers supported Ben Carson. But when Dr. Carson dropped out and endorsed President Trump, Mr. Meggers followed. "A brain surgeon must know something," he reasoned.

You can find Mr. Meggers in the machine shop on rainy days like this one, situated between the cottage-style brick farmhouse and the massive grain bins that hold a portion of this year’s crop. He’ll likely be working on one of the tractors, trucks, or other pieces of equipment needed to farm his 1,200 acres. An aggressively friendly German Shepherd named Wrigley will greet you at the door.

Mr. Meggers will tell you with a grin that he’s a full-time mechanic for his wife and sons, three of the four being teenagers. But he says everything with a smile, and every second or third sentence is punctuated by laughter.

Things are going well in Scott County, according to Mr. Meggers. Corn yield was about average this year despite the dry summer, and soybean production bested the Meggers' farm record by more than four bushels per acre.

About 85 percent of the land in Iowa is used for farming, though agricultural output accounts for only 6.4 percent of the state’s economy. Iowa’s more than 88,000 farms average 345 acres in size.

Like all farmers, Mr. Meggers keeps one eye on the cost of diesel fuel, which has increased by more than 30 percent in three years, and the other on grain prices. Either one can make or break a small farmer. Besides that, international markets make farming today more complicated than a generation or two ago.

“Now, we're dealing with China. We're dealing with Mexico, and they're wanting non-GMO corn,” Mr. Meggers says. Mexico is still buying Iowa corn, but he wonders when that will change.

“And Brazil and Argentina are huge producers of soybean and corn now, so it's really affecting the world,” Mr. Meggers says.

He points to a framed photo on the shop wall. “My grandpa was in that magazine for getting 100-bushel corn in the 1950s. My dad got this Golden Corn trophy in the late ’70s or early '80s for producing 200-bushel corn. And then, two years ago, me and my brother cashed a seven-acre check for 304 bushel corn.”

They’re doing the same work farmers did 100 years ago and producing three times the yield, yet it’s no easier to make a living.

“China has added a lot of infrastructure in Brazil, so they can buy cheaper grain there than coming here to buy it from us. That's where ethanol is important to us,” Mr. Meggers says, echoing the thoughts of nearly every farmer in the Midwest, especially Iowa. Iowa’s 42 ethanol refineries produced 4.5 billion gallons of ethanol in 2022.

Mr. Meggers wants a president who will put American energy production first, lower the cost of farm diesel, and ensure American access to foreign grain markets.

Other things matter, of course. The southern border is out of control, he says. That’s his number two issue after the economy. There are too many people entering the country illegally, including a number of criminals and outright terrorists. “It’s a safety issue,” Mr. Meggers says, “We don’t know what their intent is.”

“I think the solution is what the last administration was doing. You have to build a wall,” he says, still smiling. “People have to enter the country the right way.”

Social issues concern Mr. Meggers some, but he feels like the local school board is dealing with those effectively now that a citizen’s group managed to get a few more conservatives elected. Abortion is not a factor in his presidential voting, since the Supreme Court has returned that matter to the states.

As for the wars in Ukraine and Israel, Mr. Meggers wants to help but is wary of corruption, especially in Eastern Europe. “When we’ve got problems here we have to fix, we should do everything we can on a limited budget.”

He wants a president who can drain the swamp and get Washington politicians away from lining their own pockets and focused on solving the problems America faces.

“The only guy out there, in my mind, who can change that is Donald Trump,” Mr. Meggers says, his mind made up.

Safety and Stability

Eldridge, Iowa, population 6,700, is one of those picturesque farm towns that dot the Iowa landscape. A grain elevator towers over the main street. Newer, suburban-style homes have grown up around the outskirts of town.

Cody Road Coffee, Eldridge’s answer to Starbucks—or Cracker Barrel, or both—is a favorite hangout near the U.S. 61 on-ramp.

Jen VenHorst, 40, gets a coffee and sits down for a chat. She's a stay-at-home mother of two teen girls. She and Matt, her husband of 17 years, also farm, but it's not going well. They recently lost access to some land, reducing their farm’s acreage by half. And the rising cost of, well, everything, Ms. VenHorst says, fuel, seed, fertilizer, equipment, makes them depend more and more on Matt’s other venture, a construction business.

"It's terrifying," she says quietly, thinking about their financial future.

Tears well in her eyes as she talks about farming—raising kids on the land, the outdoor life, contributing to their community, even feeding the world. This is a calling for Ms. VenHorst and her husband. She wonders if they'll be able to keep the farm going.

Ms. VenHorst has always voted Republican, but that was less a party choice than an alignment of values.  “I guess my standards just kind of fall more that way, I would say conservative,” she says.

Farm finances are just one concern to her. When she thinks of the country as a whole, the picture seems bleak.

“I think it's in the tank,” Ms. VenHorst says flatly. “We just can't continue to have open borders—and the stuff that they're trying to shove down our children's throats, and unbalanced budget—there's just so many things that just aren’t good.”

The word terrifying comes up again.

More than anything, it seems Ms. VenHorst would like to regain a sense of security—for herself, her family, their finances, and the country.

For sure, the border is her primary concern. “You can't protect your own house if you're letting everybody else in,” she says. She feels sure the influx of illegal immigrants will eventually make its way to the Quad cities.

More than 70 percent of Iowans were born in the state. Just over 5 percent of the population are immigrants, compared to 27 percent in California and 21 percent in Florida.

“For me, it’s a safety issue. I'm raising two girls. There are people everywhere. Are they terrorists? Are they just people that want to be here? You just don’t know.

“I think we need legal immigration,” she says. “I’m all for that. But you can’t just have millions of people coming in.”

And there are other issues. “Everything, to me, is just on fire right now,” Ms. VenHorst says. That includes the wars in Ukraine and Israel, the advance of transgenderism as a social agenda, censorship of information by big tech companies, and an erosion of trust in federal institutions.

As for our allies abroad, there has to be some commonsense limit, Ms. VenHorst says. “I understand that maybe Ukraine needs some support, but where is it going? Why is there no record of what’s been spent?” she asks.

Concerning Israel: “You know, it's important to stick together with other countries that are trying to do the same things you're doing,” she says. But, “obviously, you can't just have endless support for other countries.”

Freedom of information is a concern too. Ms. VenHorst talks about how hard it was to find accurate information about COVID-19 vaccines during the pandemic, and her outrage at the silencing of major public figures, even presidential candidates, on social media.

“Once again, I’m terrified for this country. I think it's frightening,” she says. “I don't think anybody should be censored. I think we should be able to find all the information we want.”

Ms. VenHorst is undecided about who she’ll caucus for in January, but she’s sure a change is needed. “I think it starts from the top. On both sides you have [corrupt] people, so I think we have to fight the corruption right now. And that’s a tall task.”

American Strength

Victoria and Evan Sinclair could be poster children for the Republican Party of Iowa. They’re devoted parents, hardworking professionals, financially stable, politically active, engaged in their community, and thoughtful about their life choices.

The couple is renovating a 140-year-old home on a spacious corner lot in Boone, a city of some 12,000. They live about two blocks from the childhood home of Mamie Eisenhower, wife of former President Dwight Eisenhower, which is the city’s claim to fame.

Ms. Sinclair, 31, sweeps breakfast crumbs from the kitchen table before sitting down to talk. She and Mr. Sinclair, 28, have three boys aged 5 and younger. Their home is a glorious cacophony of cartoons, laughter, and the words, “Mom, Mom, Mom, Mom.”

A simple question about how things are going elicits a detailed response from Mr. Sinclair.

“Farms have been really propped up by Enbridge commodity prices here in the state of Iowa. So I think we've seen a lot of recovery in that agricultural sector … from what I've seen on farmers' balance sheets over the last couple of farm cycles, which have really helped banks in particular,” he says.

Mr. Sinclair is a risk manager for a “small, $400 million bank” in Perry.

Ms. Sinclair, a lobbyist representing clients to state lawmakers, is not convinced the economy is so robust.

“He doesn’t do the grocery shopping,” she interjects.

“Our grocery bill has nearly doubled since Joe Biden took office. Diapers are $50 a box. Thank God [our youngest] is not on formula anymore because that's up to like $40 a can for the brand we were using.”

Mr. Sinclair grins. “I play very high-level economics.”

Despite inflation, both Sinclairs admit they’re doing well financially, living on two professional incomes and spending conservatively.

The problem with the country, as they see it, is not the economy but the rising tide of populism in the Republican Party, which threatens to upend America’s place as leader of the free world.

Both Sinclairs are lifelong Republicans, cradle-to-gravers. Both identify strongly with former President Ronald Reagan’s three-point model of limited government, low taxes, and strength abroad. They are incensed yet motivated by the changes they see in both the rank-and-file and the leadership of the GOP.

“This it's been existential for me, watching the party transform,” Mr. Sinclair says. “As someone who identifies as the epitome of the three-legged stool, I find myself in a party that doesn't care about any of them.”

“It was weird in 2016,” Ms. Sinclair says, recounting her surprise at showing up to caucus in the rural precinct caucus she lived in at the time to find an unusually large crowd of mostly middle-class people supporting Donald Trump.

She was backing Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) at the time. “Donald Trump was not even a consideration. I almost thought it was kind of a joke,” she says.

Both say it was humbling to realize that their slant on conservatism, which they thought predominated the party, was suddenly a minority opinion.

“We've become a very big tent party,” Ms. Sinclair says.

“The geopolitical climate is the most concerning thing. It's the largest threat to America, to my family,” she said.

The rise of China is her greatest concern, but Russia registers too.

“I think it's incredibly important that we continue supporting Ukraine because we can't let Russia win. That'll just signal weakness to China, and they'll take Taiwan, and then we won't have computers and cars,” she says.

Perhaps sensing skepticism, Mr. Sinclair adds, “Did you know that 90 percent of five-nanometer and smaller semiconductors come off the island of Taiwan? That's what's in your iPhone. That's what's also in our missile defense system.”

Ms. Sinclair also laments the use of government to punish rival viewpoints, which she saw emerging under the Obama administration, now creeping into the Republican party. She points to Florida, where Gov. Ron DeSantis ended Walt Disney World’s self-governing status through the Reedy Creek Improvement District because of the company’s stance on social issues.

“I don't think the right answer to speech that we disagree with is using our government …  to punish people for their political views,” Ms. Sinclair says.

It isn’t that the Sinclairs are social liberals. “I'm not a Democrat by any stretch of the imagination,” Mr. Sinclair says. “I will parent my children. And how I do that is little business of yours or the state’s, and I don't want them interfering in how I handle that.”

He’s willing to accord that freedom to others as well.

As for the introduction of social engineering in public schools, the Sinclairs believe that’s being handled appropriately by their local school board. “I truly believe that everyone, from teachers to the administration, is there for the right reason,” Mr. Sinclair says. “There isn't some systematic indoctrination happening in schools.”

The couple both voted for Mr. Trump in 2016. Ms. Sinclair chose not to in 2020, and both say they will not support President Trump in 2024. To do so would further the decline of America as a world power, they believe. Both are leaning toward Nikki Haley.

The Sinclairs are also concerned about the widening polarization and suspicion around politics and all things government and are doing what they can to be bridge builders.

“Trust the system,” Mr. Sinclair says. “Your countryman isn't your enemy. We're all on the same team. The banks would fail if you stopped trusting them, how much more so the government?”

A Better Future

Bryce DeKoning, 26, has curly brown hair, a full beard, a pickup truck, and a deep love for Jesus. Any conversation with Mr. DeKoning will eventually come around to his faith, family, and church.

He sits in an armchair at the shabby chic Saints Rest Coffee Shop in Grinnell, clad in a flannel shirt, worn jeans, and work boots. Mr. DeKoning is fresh from a deer hunt where he filled two tags. “I wish I'd taken fewer shots though," he says, smiling over the good result but disappointed in his marksmanship.

Mr. DeKoning is the proud father of a two-month-old son and a native of Grinnell, a college town just off the I-80 corridor. He and his wife, Ashley, 23, have been married for two years. She works part-time doing chores on the family farm where she grew up.

Mr. DeKoning was homeschooled through high school and graduated from the University of Northern Iowa with an accounting degree.

A pleasant, soft-spoken guy, he nevertheless holds strong opinions. He’s a Republican who leans libertarian but cherishes his conservative values above all. “That’s something I’ve always prided myself on,” he says.

Being a new father dominates Mr. DeKoning's thinking, including his politics. He’s determined to leave behind a better world for his son, and the nation’s trajectory makes him wonder if that’s possible.

As with other voters we spoke with, he's not a one-issue voter. The economy, shifting cultural values, diminishing American influence in the world, the national debt, abortion, and legal challenges to the 2nd Amendment all concern him.

Inflation and rising interest rates probably top his list. “I feel like we're committing economic suicide,” Mr. DeKoning says. “It seems like gross negligence in my opinion. That’s probably the thing causing me the most worry.”

He’s glad he and his wife bought their home two years ago; they probably couldn’t afford the interest payments at current rates.

The greater concern is that his son may be forced to pay for the poor economic decisions our leaders are making today. “I feel like the next generation is going to suffer drastically,” he says.

Abortion is another bright-line issue for Mr. DeKoning. As a form of birth control, it is “completely wrong” in his estimation, equivalent to taking a human life. He does allow that the procedure may sometimes be medically necessary but thinks those exceptions are often used to cloud the issue.

He favors having a discussion about the legitimacy of elective abortion and considering medical exceptions separately.

Approaching his third presidential caucus, Mr. DeKoning has nearly made up his mind to back Mr. DeSantis.

“I voted for Trump in 2016 and 2020. I used to be a big MAGA person, and I was proud of it,” he says. But after seeing President Trump’s reaction to the 2020 election—“He lost”—and his comments on the Florida law banning abortion after six weeks of pregnancy, Mr. DeKoning has cooled on the former president.

“He's backtracking on things that he was strong on in the past,” he says. “I just feel that this country can’t take another political cycle of Trump and survive it. I feel like it'd be too polarizing and cause too many risks.”

While he thinks every election is important, Mr. DeKoning shies away from placing too much weight on the outcome of this contest. The nation’s future may be clouded by problems, but life will go on.

“The people in this community have me hopeful,” he says. “Iowa as a whole has gotten me hopeful. Certain politicians and certain people give me hope.”

He thinks for a moment.

“And knowing Jesus is going to come back eventually, that has me hopeful.”

A New Approach

Katie Howard, 67, is a transplant to Iowa and a latecomer to the Republican Party. She lives in Ottumwa, hometown of the fictional character Radar O’Reilly of the television show “MAS*H,” and of the actor Tom Arnold.

Ottumwa has seen better days. This industrial city of nearly 26,000 reached its peak in the mid-20th century. A series of plant closures in the 1960s began a population drain that has mostly continued to the present. Some 19 percent of the city’s residents live in poverty, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. That compares to 11 percent for the state as a whole.

Ms. Howard became a widow 10 years ago and moved to the city three years later for family reasons. Now retired, her working life was spent primarily in Arizona and California, where she managed pensions and IT for a series of local governmental agencies.

She sits in a booth at Main Street Donuts & Ice Cream, a surprisingly charming shop housed in a nondescript commercial building west of downtown.

“I was raised in a Democratic family,” she says by way of introduction, recalling that her earliest political involvement was canvassing for a Democratic candidate for the California statehouse.

By the 1980s Ms. Howard's political views were changing, and witnessing 9/11 completed her migration to conservative thought.

She flew to New York on business less than a month after the attack and visited Ground Zero. “The steam was still coming up on the ground in columns, not just a little wisps,” she said. “That was very sobering.”

Ms. Howard is an avid shooter and is quite concerned about 2nd Amendment rights. She’s also a motorcyclist who recently traded her Harley for a smaller, lighter Suzuki for easier handling. “But it doesn’t have the pop at the low end,” she laments.

On social issues, many of her views are more Libertarian than traditional Republican.

Ms. Howard is adamantly pro-life for personal reasons, having given birth to her first child at age 17 over the objection of her parents, who pressed for an abortion. But as a national political issue, she sees the matter differently.

“If the Republicans don't get off this whole abortion kick, we are going to continue to lose elections. Look what just happened in Ohio,” she says, referring to a November ballot initiative that added a right to abortion to the state’s constitution.

“The Republican Party platform is out of step with its own voters. . . Let states wrangle with it.”

As for same-sex marriage, and transgenderism, she says, “I don't care what somebody does in their personal life. I just don't care.”

That attitude changes where children are involved. “When it creeps into school agendas and curriculum, I’m absolutely against that,” she says.

“And the sex change operations, the mutilation of kids, I’m just aghast. I just can't believe that we allow kids who can’t smoke cigarettes, who can't vote …  to make life-altering decisions that are irrevocable,” Ms. Howard says. “It curdles my blood.

“I always called myself a liberal Republican, and by that, I meant that I was socially liberal and fiscally and politically conservative,” she says. “I don't say that anymore because if you hear the word liberal, it evokes all kinds of things that I don't ascribe to at all.”

The economy is perhaps a greater concern to most Ottumwans. “Among our [Republican] group, we've got people who are really struggling,” she says. “And these are people who have worked their entire lives.”

Ottumwa also faces the kinds of social welfare issues that are no longer confined to larger cities. “You've got drug addicts, the homelessness, what I call chronic or intergenerational welfare,” she adds. “So there’s a lot to do.”

A veteran political organizer, Ms. Howard talks frequently with residents of all life stages. “The thing I hear over and over and over is that inflation is the number one issue, particularly groceries,” she says. “And right behind, there's gas and fuel or energy costs.”

People are living on credit cards, she says, accruing more and more debt. Many are unable to meet their monthly expenses.

For people struggling to make ends meet, the chronic spending in Washington doesn't sit well, according to Ms. Howard. “Everybody’s upset about the federal spending and the fact that the budget isn’t balanced."

Having lived in the southwest, Katie knows the value of migrant labor in the agricultural industry. But the border is out of control and our approach is chaotic, she says. “Flying and bussing people wherever and . . . the four-star hotels in New York when we don't treat our veterans at all the way we should. Where's the plan?”

Ms. Howard voted for Trump twice but doesn't intend to do so a third time—unless it becomes a choice between President Trump and Ms. Haley.

Ms. Howard worries about the disruption a second Trump term would bring to the country, as the president himself would likely become the focal point of ongoing controversy and political fighting.

“We can’t afford that,” she says. “We have to buckle down and get to work.”

Her choice is Vivek Ramaswamy. “He is an American first, unapologetically. That's his agenda,” Ms. Howard says. “I really think he's a very rational person. He's extremely well-researched and learned. He knows what he doesn't know, and he's not afraid to ask or to learn. And, as he puts it, he's got fresh legs.”

She also loves the way Mr. Ramaswamy seems to be energizing the electorate. At the Iowa State Fair, “People were just thronging to him, and they were mostly young. And the young voters are extremely disaffected.”

Will Vivek win? Ms. Howard hopes so. But if not, “Maybe ’28, who knows?”