The Vice Presidential nominees for both major parties -- Republican Indiana Gov. Mike Pence and Democratic Virginia Senator Tim Kaine -- are in Iowa this afternoon. During the caucuses, Iowa gets plenty of attention, but high profile visits are less common during the general election.
Donna Hoffman heads the Political Science Department at the University of Northern Iowa. She says because Iowa is a swing state, it’s still playing an important role in the presidential contest.
"[This is an] era in which presidential contests at the Electoral College are sometimes won and lost with really, really small margins," explains Hoffman. "Even our six little Electoral College votes may matter in terms of how a candidates puts together the math to get to 270 Electoral College votes, which is what you need to win."
Polls from this month show GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump leading Democrat Hillary Clinton by four-to-eight points.
The Democrat Kaine will be at Iowa State University in Ames at 2:00 pm. The Republican Pence will be at Music Man Square in Mason City at 3:00 pm, and then later at Dubuque' Giese Manufacturing at 7:oopm.