On Tuesday, the Cook Political Report moved the U.S. Senate race between Republican Chuck Grassley and Democrat Mike Franken from “safe Republican” to “likely Republican.”
The Cook Report made the move shortly after a Des Moines Register poll showed the race within a three-point margin.
Franken’s campaign included the following from the Cook Report in a Tuesday release:
Cook Political Report, one of the most respected election handicappers, wrote:
“Selzer’s Iowa Poll with the Des Moines Register/Mediacom has long been the gold standard in the state, conducted by venerated pollster J. Ann Selzer. So we took note when her numbers back in July put this at an 8-point race between seven-term Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley against retired Navy Adm. Mike Franken.”
“…it’s not the horse race numbers we are paying as much attention to as we are the underlying metrics. Grassley’s approval rating is now underwater for the first time in the Iowa Poll’s history, with 44% approve/48% disapprove.”
“That was coupled with warning signs for Grassley in the [July] poll as two-thirds of voters said they think it’s time for someone new to represent Iowa.”
“On air, Grassley has gone negative against Franken — another sign they are taking the challenge seriously…Franken outraised Grassley again this cycle, with $3.6 million compared to the veteran Republican’s $2 million…”
“…given both Franken’s fundraising and the Selzer poll, … we don’t think it belongs in our safest Republican column…”
“Therefore, we are shifting our rating from Solid to Likely Republican…we still see Grassley as the clear favorite to win re-election, but it could be his closest race ever since he was first elected in 1980 by 8 points.”
“…it could be another contest to watch on election night, even if the trajectory is going against the conventional wisdom of other state trends.”
If Grassley would stop promoting war in Ukraine and voting to send that corrupt government billions of US taxpayer dollars, his approval rating would go up. Now he is part of the DC warmongering crowd that is risking nuclear war with Russia. It is insane! Call and email your senators and reps demanding they stop funding this war and provoking Russia. There are rumors that Ukraine is planning a false flag dirty bomb on its own territory to blame Russia and draw US troops into Ukraine. If WWIII starts, it may be the end of all of us.