Biden to go on Iowa tour with swing district lawmakers

Former Vice President Joe Biden will hit the campaign trail in Iowa with three swing district Democrats in a bid to win over moderates in the crucial early caucus state. 

Biden will go on tour this weekend with freshman Reps. Abby Finkenauer (Iowa), Chrissy Houlahan (Pa.) and Colin Allred (Texas), all of whom flipped GOP-held districts in the 2018 midterms and helped the Democrats retake the House.  

The tour will send the four to Cedar Rapids, Oelwein, Waukon, Decorah, Waverly and Marshalltown over a two-day period, a rapid clip reflecting the full-court press Biden is making to win the support of Iowa voters ahead of the Feb. 3 caucuses. 

“The Members of Congress will highlight the imperative that Democrats select a nominee that will not only ensure we beat Donald Trump, but also help the party win up and down the ticket next November in battleground districts and states,” Biden’s campaign said in a statement. 

Biden has put his electability at the center of his campaign, arguing that a moderate is best suited to defeat President Trump in swing states in November. 

Polling shows a tightly packed top tier in Iowa, with the RealClearPolitics average showing Biden with a slim lead over Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg. 

Sanders and Warren, who are stuck in Washington during the week for the Senate’s impeachment trial, are dispatching their top surrogates to Iowa to maintain their campaign’s presence in the Hawkeye State.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), a progressive with wide name recognition, will tour the state for Sanders, while former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro, who scrapped his own presidential bid before endorsing Warren, is holding multiple events for the Massachusetts senator.