No waiting here
Iowa goes to Trump, other Republicans
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NICK PEDLEY/SENTINEL-NEWS
Poll worker Cheryl Bethke helps a voter register at the Hartley Community Center during Tuesday's general election. Unofficial turnout in O'Brien County was 76.5.
Local voters sided with most of the state during Tuesday's general election when they overwhelmingly supported Republicans in the big-ticket federal races.
Republican President Donald Trump, Republican Sen. Joni Ernst and Republican congressional candidate Randy Feenstra received a groundswell of support in O'Brien and Clay counties Nov. 3. With the exception of Feenstra in Clay County, each candidate carried both counties by more than 30 points.
Trump carried Iowa with 53.1 percent of the vote compared to Joe Biden's 44.9 percent. Ernst fended off Democratic challenger Theresa Greenfield 51.8-45.1, while Feenstra beat Democrat J.D. Scholten 62-37.8.
NICK PEDLEY/SENTINEL-NEWS
Hartley's voting precinct was moved from the library to the community center to accommodate social distancing protocol due to COVID-19
Unofficial results showed Trump receiving 77.7 percent of the vote in O'Brien County and 68.4 percent in Clay County. Ernst won by a similar margin of victory in O'Brien County with 76.1 percent of the vote and 64.5 percent in Clay County.
Scholten, who came within 3 points of ousting longtime Fourth District Rep. Steve King in 2018, was blown out by Feenstra. Locally, Feenstra scored 78 percent of the vote in O'Brien County and 62 percent in Clay County. Scholten only won Story County in District 4.
Though unofficial results showed narrow margins, U.S. House Districts 1 and 2 flipped from Democrat to Republican Tuesday. Only District 3 held by incumbent Cindy Axne stayed blue.
There were no competitive state or local races on the ballot in O'Brien and Clay counties, and all open seats went to Republicans.
As of press deadline, the outcome of the presidential race was undecided as several key swing states were still counting ballots.
