Why Iowa Republicans who once opposed Trump are ready to vote for him

By John King, CNN
7 minute read
Published 12:03 PM EDT, Sun August 18, 2024

Kellerton, Iowa (CNN) — Shanen Ebersole is voting for Donald Trump. With plenty of reservations, but zero hesitation. … “It’s definitely a vote for Trump,” Ebersole said. “I’m happy doing that with the choices that we have. I don’t think there is any way I could vote any other direction.”

Ebersole was a Nikki Haley supporter when we first met before the Iowa caucuses. Trump won 59% of the caucus vote in conservative Ringgold County; Ebersole was one of just 16 votes for the former South Carolina governor.

Once Trump locked up the GOP nomination, Ebersole thought a bit about voting third party. But her maverick streak has limits. Her family and her farm come first, so she came home to Trump.

“Because we have to put the American people first,” she said in an interview along the fence line of the Ebersole cattle farm. “I think that the policies that have been in place in the Harris-Biden administration — they hurt this. They hurt our land and they hurt the people of middle America the most.”

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