Day 28: Election Prayer Focus Iowa

Iowa - Hawkeye State

Motto: Our liberties we prize and our nights we will maintain
Capital/Largest City: Des Moines

Leaders
Gov. Chet Culver (D)
Senator Chuck Grassley (R)
Senator Tom Harkin (D)
1. Bruce Braley (D)
2. Dave Loebsack (D)
3. Leonard Boswell (D)
4. Tom Latham (R)
5. Steve King (R)

Prayer Points
*Declare revival comes to Iowa.
* Declare signs and wonders follow the preaching of the Word in Iowa.
*Declare divine strategies come to Christian leader in Iowa.
*Declare the leaders of Iowa walk in wisdom and the fear of the Lord.
*Declare legislation in Iowa is in accordance with the Word of God.
*Declare protection over the state of Iowa.
*Declare proctection over the National Guard and military personnel in Iowa.
*Declare prosperity comes to Iowa.
*Declare new industry and technology comes to Iowa.
*Declare Christians in Iowa vote according to the Word of God.
*Declare an accurate accounting of the vote in Iowa.

When Iowa became a state in 1846, its capital was Iowa City; the more centrally located Des Moines became the new capital in 1857. At that time, the state's present boundaries were also drawn.
Although Iowa produces a tenth of the nation's food supply, the value of Iowa's manufactured products is twice that of its agriculture. Major industries are food and associated products, non-electrical machinery, electrical equipment, printing and publishing, and fabricated products.
Iowa stands in a class by itself as an agricultural state. Its farms sell over $10 billion worth of crops and livestock annually. Iowa leads the nation in all corn, soybean, and hog marketings, and comes in third in total livestock sales. Iowa's forests produce hardwood lumber, particularly walnut, and its mineral products include cement, limestone, sand, gravel, gypsum, and coal.
(http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0108213.html)

Religion
A 2001 survey from the City University of New York found that 52% of Iowans are Protestant, while 23% are Roman Catholic, and other religion made up 6%. 13% responded with non-religious, and 5% did not answer. The largest Protestant denominations by number of adherents are the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America with 268,543; and the United Methodist Church with 248,211. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iowa)

Economy
Iowa's main agricultural outputs are hogs, corn, soybeans, oats, cattle, eggs and dairy products. Its industrial outputs are food processing, machinery, electric equipment, chemical products, publishing and primary metals. Iowa produces the nation's largest amount of ethanol. Des Moines also serves as a center for the insurance industry. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iowa)

Voter trends
Iowa is currently listed as a swing state in national politics. From 1968 to 1988, it voted Republican in the Presidential Election, voting for Richard Nixon in 1968 and 1972, Gerald Ford in 1976, and Ronald Reagan in 1980 and 1984 However, in 1988, Democratic candidate Michael Dukakis won the state, beating Republican candidate George H. W. Bush by a surprisingly large margin in that state, and winning in several traditionally Republican counties. The state subsequently voted Democratic in succeeding elections, voting for Bill Clinton in 1992 and 1996, and Democrat Al Gore in 2000, but in 2004, George W. Bush won the state by less than 1% margin. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iowa)

Presidential caucus
The state gets considerable attention every four years because it holds the first presidential caucuses, gatherings of voters to select delegates to the state conventions. Along with the New Hampshire primary the following week, Iowa's caucuses have become the starting points for choosing the two major-party candidates for president. The caucuses, held in January of the election year, involve people gathering in homes or public places and choosing their candidates, rather than casting secret ballots as is done in a primary election. The national and international media give Iowa (and New Hampshire) much of the attention accorded the national candidate selection process, which gives Iowa voters enormous leverage. Those who enter the caucus race often expend enormous effort to reach voters in each of Iowa's 99 counties. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iowa)