Iowa Politics with Jeff Stein -- Thu. Oct. 15, 2026

Shades of 2018.

I'm Jeff Stein with Today's Iowa Politics Report.

I have mentioned previously that 2026 was shaping up to be a lot like 2018.

In other words, the midterm election this year during Trump 2.0 was seeming a lot like the midterm election during Trump 1.0.

And in some respects it still is, but in others,

It may not be as rosy for the GOP.

I recall attending an event in northeast Iowa that fall, where then Speaker of the House Paul Ryan appeared in support of an incumbent GOP congressman.

Ryan extolled the virtues of the House and cited how many bills they had passed.

They did not move in the Senate, but Ryan's message was, in essence, don't blame us, reelect us, and get more Republicans in the Senate.

As it happened, voters did not take to such a nuanced message, and the GOP lost the House majority.

Oddly, Republicans increased their Senate majority.

In other words, the obstructionists gained while the folks who had passed bills to keep their promises lost.

Doesn't feel too many of us that the U.S.

Congress is doing much these days.

Folks in the House will tell you about all the bills they passed that the Senate failed to move,

but the net result is the same.

Nothing.

Now that does not bode well for the GOP and the House this year, but I also don't think that means the 2018 results in the Senate will happen again this time.

You see back then there were 26 Democrat Senate seats on the ballot.

This year, a flip.

20 seats currently held by the GOP are on the ballot compared with 13 Democrats.

All of that meaning in a year of anti-incumbents as I maintain this is, it remains impossible to predict with history only serving as a modest guide.

And that's the Iowa Politics Report for Thursday, October 15 on Twitter, Instagram, Gitter, Threads and Truth Social at Iowa Politics.

I'm Jeff Stein on News Talk 1540, KXEL.