“What you need to realize with Sioux County is there’s a very strong religious flavor there, from their courts to their public squares,” said Ned Bjornstad, a former elected prosecutor in north-west Iowa turned veteran defense attorney who practices regularly in Orange City. “For a candidate like Buttigieg, I’d expect protesters.”
There weren’t any.
As Buttigieg entered the Prairie Winds Events Center in downtown Orange City, a crowd of around 200 instead roared in a standing ovation.

Regan Harms, a 22-year-old senior majoring in biblical studies at Northwestern College in Orange City, said she wasn’t at all surprised with the turnout. As she introduced Buttigieg, she described him as a neighbor and fellow midwesterner, one who understands life in rural America. “Iowans long for someone who understands them,” Harms said. “The second you meet him, you get that impression that he almost knows you. Of course he can come into Orange City, and people will like him. There’s that common bond among midwesterners.”

But Orange City is hostile territory to Democrats and fervently socially conservative. There, no Democrat running for governor or president has registered over 18% support since 2008. . . “Look at it this way: the red wall has begun to crack,” said the former state senator David Johnson, who used to represent the area. Johnson left the Republican party and declared himself an independent after it declared Trump its nominee. “Think about it: there were over 200 people in Orange City to see Pete Buttigieg and there aren’t even 2,000 registered Democrats in that county. That means there are independents and Republicans in that crowd,” Price said.

Corrie Hayes, a 21-year-old senior at Northwestern College, said she was impressed particularly with his response to a question about abortion rights, when he said that in the Book of Genesis, life begins with breath. She wouldn’t get into her positions on policy – she said she was deeply religious and her faith guided her every day – but she said she could tell Buttigieg was sincere about his faith. Hayes feels it isn’t fair to question whether Buttigieg is “electable” simply because he’s gay. “People [in Orange City] love each other regardless of who you are,” she said. “And that’s the reason I like Pete. He feels the same way.”