Democrats can win back rural areas by bringing back jobs, Rep. Ro Khanna says

Following the election, U.S. Rep. Ro Khanna devised a plan for Democrats to win back rural states like Iowa: focus on bringing back jobs.

The Democrat, who represents California’s Silicon Valley, spoke at Drake University’s Harkin Institute for Public Policy & Citizen Engagement Thursday night with Douglas Burns, a journalist and co-owner of Herald Publishing Co. in Carrol. Khanna is making other stops in the state to discuss his ideas for “The New Economic Patriotism” — a plan to bring production back from off-shore positions to the United States and to increase tech jobs in rural areas.

Thursday’s discussion followed an election in which Iowa saw a “red wave,” with Republicans winning more statehouse and federal seats while growing their majorities in both chambers of the Iowa legislature. But in competitive races outside of Iowa, Democrats fared better than expected. In the Midwest, Wisconsin saw the reelection of their Democratic governor, Democrats flipped both chambers of the Michigan state legislature and they won control of the Minnesota House.

While Iowa Democrats have defended the state as remaining purple — citing some Democratic wins in the 2018 election, Iowa’s support of former President Barack Obama and the voter registration totals of roughly one-third Democrat, one-third Republican and one-third Independent — some national politicians say the latest results prove Iowa is now firmly Republican. Iowa went for former President Donald Trump in both 2016 and 2020, and the GOP has maintained control of both chambers of the state legislature since 2017.

In an interview with the Iowa Capital Dispatch, Khanna said that Democrats must address the economic hardships rural communities face to win future elections in rural states. People are “legitimately angry with institutions,” he said, and addressing their concerns will take time.

“You can’t expect that you pass one bill and suddenly people are gonna say, ‘OK, everything is great,'” Khanna said. “We’re gonna use that, as a party, a decade-long focus on the economic revitalization of places that have been left out of globalization. And I think over time, we can earn back people’s trust.”

Earning back people’s trust in places like Iowa means working with businesses like those located in Khanna’s  California district. He discussed his work with tech companies including Accenture and Google in building business locations in Iowa towns like Jefferson, as well as his support of legislation like the CHIPS Act to bring back semiconductor manufacturing to the United States.

But bringing employers into rural areas is only part of the issue. At the event, Khanna was asked how these plans would work given the workforce shortage Iowa already faces. He said he supports immigration reform legislation already passed in the House, in addition to better training for both manufacturing and digital jobs. He said that while he supports a strong border, immigration is another issue that has become overly polarized.

“Too often the immigration has been helping the economy in places like Silicon Valley … but people don’t see the benefit in their community,” he said. “And so they don’t see why it helps that the more we link and connect the communities, the more we’re going to see the support for immigration.”

Discussing the future of the Iowa caucuses, Khanna said he still sees Iowa as a welcoming space to new candidates and ideas. He said he supports President Joe Biden running for reelection, and said rural states like Iowa need more national attention on economic issues regardless of their role in presidential politics.

“Iowa has been a wonderful place where President Obama won, where Pete Buttigieg has won,” Khanna said. “So it has shown that it’s open to people with different backgrounds and different ideologies.”