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There are just over five months until the general election where Republicans are trying to hold on to control of Congress. They're facing rising gas prices and an unpopular war in Iran. NPR's Stephen Fowler reports from Iowa on what Republicans are saying about all that to voters.
STEPHEN FOWLER, BYLINE: At the Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition spring kickoff event, a record crowd filled the Horizon Event Center near Des Moines to hear from Texas Senator Ted Cruz.
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TED CRUZ: The last year and four months, with President Trump in office and with the Republican Senate and Republican House, we have won more victories than at any time since we have been alive.
FOWLER: Victories, he says, like falling illegal immigration numbers, drastic reductions in crime rates, and the passage of a sweeping bill full of tax cuts and spending priorities. But the crowd of about 1,100 conservative Christians also heard a warning.
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CRUZ: The Democrats have put a bull's eye on the state of Iowa. They're coming after Iowa. They want to turn Iowa blue.
FOWLER: Iowa has a Republican governor, two Republican senators, and all four House members are Republicans, too. But this is a midterm year, where the party in power nationally usually has a bad time holding on to that power. This year is shaping up to be no different, acknowledges Congresswoman Ashley Hinson.
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ASHLEY HINSON: And, boy, do we have a lot of work to do. And, boy, do we have a lot at stake. This election this year is going to be about contrast, the good old contrast between common sense and crazy.
FOWLER: Hinson is running for an open Senate seat and has to grapple with President Trump's favorability rating sitting at record lows, affordability remaining a top issue for voters and Democrats who are feeling energized. Her message?
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HINSON: Look, we know life is too expensive, but the Democrat agenda makes everything worse. It's too expensive, and Democrats still want to spend more. They want to regulate more. They want to tax more. And then, by the way, they act surprised when we can't get ahead in life. They do it with a straight face.
FOWLER: In Iowa's governor's race, a crowded Republican field highlights broader fractious fights on the right that present a challenge, too.
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JEFF KAUFMANN: Unity after the primary.
FOWLER: That's Iowa GOP chair Jeff Kaufmann.
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KAUFMANN: If we don't do that, then there could be consequences. Let's let the grassroots speak. That's what the primary is.
FOWLER: This year's primary election show it's not the grassroots that Republicans have issues with, especially when it comes to backing Trump's preferred policies and picks. But the president's message hasn't been well received by, well, almost everyone else. And it's not always clear what that message is, like last week in a Cabinet meeting when Trump hyped a prescription drug savings program.
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PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: On that alone, we should win the midterms. On that alone, we should win the midterms.
FOWLER: But also defended the length of the war in Iran and said...
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TRUMP: They thought they were going to outwait me, you know? We'll outwait him. He's got the midterms. I don't care about the midterms.
FOWLER: And when it comes down to it, Vice President Vance explained it this way at a May campaign stop in Des Moines.
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JD VANCE: The fundamental question for us in this election is actually not any specific question of public policy. It's not any particular issue.
FOWLER: Voters do have questions about public policy, though, especially in Iowa. It's an agriculture-heavy state that's felt the pinch of tariffs and the war in Iran, especially through high fertilizer costs. And unlike other red states, it hasn't been that long since voters backed Democrats in office. All of that is why this year, the Republican Party is playing defense to hold control of the governorship, Senate and three of the state's four House seats.
Stephen Fowler, NPR News, Clive, Iowa.
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