MARSHALLTOWN, Iowa — Iowa caucusgoers on Monday chose between Vivek Ramaswamy, 38, Ron DeSantis, 45, Nikki Haley, 51, and Donald Trump, 78. Even though Trump was the decisive victor here, interviews with five different Iowa voters attending four candidate campaign events ahead of the big day shed light on many voters’ desire for someone new and younger than the current president or the last one.
Right now, President Joe Biden, 81, is the oldest president in history. If Trump returns to the White House, he would inherit that title. Many Iowans said that is an outcome that they would like to avoid, and instead want to bring in someone younger with fresh ideas to serve the country.
“Trump isn’t quite as diplomatic as the other candidates,” said Cory Wandling, 62, an Ames resident and a computer programming consultant who attended a DeSantis event in Ames on Jan. 11. “Though I don’t blame him for it, since the FBI are coming at him very hard. I just think we need someone new and fresh.”
Wandling said that he has enjoyed the other candidates, but will caucus for DeSantis.
“With DeSantis, we have a chance to do all the things that Trump promised us, like how he said he would get rid of Obamacare. He didn’t do that. He said he would decrease the national debt, yet didn’t do it,” Wandling said. “So I’m hoping DeSantis can fix that and tackle the immigration crisis which is causing chaos.”
Sixty-seven-year-old Paul Stone, a retired IT technician, shared similar concerns, saying he voted for Trump before, but believes he now has too much baggage. Stone said he would like to see DeSantis as the Republican pick, seeing him as someone who has “done well” in Florida and is more capable than Biden or Trump.
“I would like to see Trump being displaced in this caucus,” Stone said, speaking a few days before DeSantis claimed a distant second place in the race. “I think there are a lot of unfair things that have been thrown at him, but DeSantis can carry his torch and I rather Trump be separated from the caucus to deal with his crap and not involve us.” (DeSantis ended his campaign and endorsed Trump Sunday.)
An August 2023 poll by the Wall Street Journal found that 49% of Americans consider Trump not “mentally up for the job of president,” while 60% believe Biden is unfit.
A national exit poll in 2020 found that over 50% of those 45 and older had voted for Trump. Now some voters in that age group want a younger leader.
This isn’t only a concern for seniors. Younger voters have shown to be eager to get a younger voice leading the Oval Office. Both Trump and Biden have less than half of their support from voters between the ages of 18 and 34. About 46% of folks in that age group support Trump and 42% support Biden according to a poll by NBC News in November 2023.
“I’m young. Trump is wounded in this fight, with the lawsuits, whereas Vivek is young and ready to kind of take our country to the next step,” Noah Hermanson, a 21-year-old student majoring in dentistry at the University of Iowa, said on caucus day. “For Biden, we have to worry if he even is mentally capable of doing the job and Trump’s getting up there, so us Republicans should worry about the same thing, it’s a concern.”
Hermanson was referring to businessman Ramaswamy, who suspended his campaign and endorsed Trump soon after a disappointing caucus finish in fourth place.
Another college student studying engineering, Diego Ortiz, 20, also turned in his ballot at the caucus in Marshalltown with his mark next to Ramaswamy’s name.
“I think someone like Vivek understands us, our point of view, since they’re someone closer to our age, I think he gets us,” Ortiz said. “But at the end of the day, I’m not voting Democrat, so we will see [who wins].”
Despite wanting to see other Republican candidates shine this election season, flipping to a Democratic candidate is not in the cards, many caucusgoers say.
“My wife and I have attended a lot of Vivek’s events and he pinpoints the exact problems we are facing. He is smart, successful and young, [and] can both inform and educate us on what the media hides,” said Davin Roberts, 57, just before caucusing in Marshalltown. “If Vivek doesn’t make it to the [general election] and it’s a Trump-Biden rematch, then I’d lean towards Trump since I wouldn’t vote for Biden.”
Roberts, who works in sales, added that he felt Trump left office with a lot of things broken and with a lot of unfulfilled promises, yet he’d still prefer to vote for him than for a Democrat. That’s a similar consensus to many voters — anything but another Democratic presidency.