Since 1971, Iowa’s voters have had the first say in who might be president, giving Iowans what some call an outsize influence on the presidential election.
Some in the state, with its 2.4 million voting-age adults, have confessed what they claim to be their inner thoughts on the cadre of presidential candidates at NBC News’ Election Confessions.
“I cannot vote for any of these!” one wrote. “I wish he would have got into the race earlier,” another wrote about now-departed candidate Steve Bullock, the governor of Montana.
More than 7,000 people from across the U.S. have shared around 60,000 confessions about the candidates, the country and its condition. Here are some of the more notable confessions from the first-in-the-nation voting state:
Confessions for Bernie Sanders


Confessions for Tom Steyer

Confessions for Tulsi Gabbard

Confessions for Donald Trump


Confessions for the country

Confessions for Joe Biden

Confessions for Pete Buttigieg

Confessions for Amy Klobuchar

Confessions for Andrew Yang
