Eastern Iowa plays heavily in GOP plans to land the state in Donald Trumps presidential column and give Republicans control of the Statehouse by ending Democrats 10-year grip on the Iowa Senate, Gov. Terry Branstad told a conservative group Wednesday. Iowa Republicans are expecting Trumps visits to Davenport and Cedar Rapids on Thursday to fire up the partys base as well as draw support from independents and disaffected working-class Democrats who are feeling their partys elites have left them behind in a rigged system that has made Hillary Clinton their 2016 nominee, he said.