Iowans are, for the most part, extremely tolerant. I would say Iowans tend to be more progressive, but not necessarily "liberal" if that makes sense.
For example, here are some of Iowa's progressive bona fides:
- In 1846 when Iowa became a state, it was only the second state in the country to allow married women to own property
- 1851 - Iowa becomes only second state in nation to legalize interracial marriage
- 1857 the University of Iowa becomes first U.S. college to offer full range of degrees to women as well as men
- 1867: African American men were granted the right to vote. The 15th amendment to the U.S. constitution, which did the same thing nationally, wasn’t ratified until 1870
- 1868: Iowa became the second state to outlaw segregated schools… ninety years before the rest of America. The Iowa State Supreme Court ruled, in the case brought before it by Alexander Clark of Muscatine, that all children in Iowa must attend the same schools.
- 1869: Iowan Julia C. Addington became the first woman in the United States to be elected to a public office. She was elected to be Mitchell County Superintendent. Mitchell county is in northeastern Iowa.
- 1869: Iowa became the first state to allow women to join the bar, thus setting the stage for having the first female attorney in the U.S., Arabella Mansfield.
- 1894: Iowa became the third state in the nation to give women the right to vote
- 1934: The first mosque built in the United States is built in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
- 1970: The University of Iowa became one of the first universities in the U.S. to allow a student GLBT group. It was also one of the first universities in the U.S. to add sexual orientation to its non-discrimination policy
- 2007: Iowa became the second state to allow full marriage equality for gays and lesbians.
As you will notice, most of these issues have nothing to do with economic policy (ie. wealth distribution) but rather they have to do with individual rights and freedom.
To me, Iowan's politics basically can be summed up by this: "I don't really care what you do with your personal life as long as it doesn't infringe on my rights, so I will defend your rights to do what you want."
It's more traditional progressive/libertarian than modern government-dependent liberalness, IMO.
