WYOMING, Ia. — Welcome to Wyoming, an eastern Iowa town as politically purple as they come.

Wyoming is the only place in Iowa with more than 500 people that was dead even between the two major political parties as of early December, when The Des Moines Register grouped each voter's address: 152 registered Democrats and 152 registered Republicans.

The equal split surprises most folks who live here, even as the upcoming caucuses draw out heated political discussions.

Democrats thought the town was all Republican because they talk the loudest, and vice versa.

“Seems like a lot of Republicans when I’m around,” said Sandra Lief, a Democrat. “You hate to even mention politics. You can’t say anything and not start a war. I’ve never seen it like this, never in my life.”

Because rural folks also list their address as Wyoming and are included in the numbers, the county road that runs past her farm outside town is an appropriate symbol. Across the road, Republicans, she said. Neighbors forever. Good people.

“This is the first time we got in a tiff with each other,” Lief said. “All these years. Over him.”

“Him” is Donald Trump, the real estate and entertainment mogul turned Republican presidential candidate. He's a lightning rod among Iowans. And the issue of whether to allow refugees to come to the U.S. during a time of heightened fears over terrorism added juice to the conversation.

“Gee willikers,” Lief said. “Wow, did we argue over that.”

The rest of Iowa is also fairly evenly divided politically, befitting Iowa's reputation as a swing state. But there's a little more red in the purple statewide: While no-party registrations are higher than those of either party, at 38 percent, Republicans edged Democrats 32 percent to 30 percent as of early January.

Crossing the roads of this friendly, politically divided town in Jones County provides a glimpse of what’s in the hearts and minds of Iowans leading up to the Feb. 1 caucuses. They are fearful for their safety, worried about the economy and generally undecided which candidate or side can fix it, which mirrors many Iowans, according to polls and voter registrations. In Wyoming, 377 people are registered as “no party” — more than the 304 Republicans and Democrats combined.

Wyoming has a high school, library, grocery store, bank, café, golf course and tavern — proudly listed by residents as essentials of a rural town fighting against population decline, although the town recently lost the lumberyard and drugstore.

Wyoming is roughly equal distance between the metropolitan areas of Cedar Rapids, Dubuque and Waterloo. City leaders say it has little industry and is a distant “bedroom community” surrounded by longtime farmers.

A few new people have moved to town recently, perhaps because of lower gas prices, which mean a less expensive commute to the cities. But around 20 homes still sit vacant and in disrepair as remnants of the 1980s farm crisis, said Mayor Keith Somerville, a Democrat.

“It seems like the majority of people in town are either senior citizens that have stayed here for years or young couples with young kids,” he said. “I’m sure they care about the economy. I don’t think they care much about immigration or that terrorism is a big deal. We feel safe here.”

VOTER DATA: See party registration data for Iowa voters by county, by city

Based on interviews around town, what’s in their hearts and minds is similar to concerns of the rest of Iowa.

Economy and jobs were on the minds of many of the 15 people interviewed on a January day, with national security and terrorism running close behind.

Those concerns reflect the findings of a Des Moines Register/ Bloomberg Politics Iowa Poll earlier this month. Likely Republican caucusgoers rated national security as the top "extremely important issue," with the economy No. 2. The economy topped the list for likely Democratic caucusgoers.

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Vermont U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders were running close among Democrats interviewed, with an edge to Clinton, similar to the Iowa Poll's findings, which showed Clinton with a 2 percentage-point lead.

Lief is a Clinton supporter and thinks she has what it takes. “You’ve got to be tough. You can’t be a silly girl,” she said.

Republicans interviewed in Wyoming were divided, mentioning Trump, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie as favorites, although Texas U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz had a slight lead over Trump in the Iowa Poll.

What is most noticeable is that most people are not dead sold on any of the candidates and are still considering their options.

“Typical Iowa attitude. ‘I want to make up my own mind,’ “ said Arlie Willems, chairman of the Jones County Democrats.

They won’t commit until the last day after hearing all the last-minute goings-on, said Al Willman, Wyoming’s fire chief, a Republican. “I think they vote for the person, not the party.”

“A lot of people want to be intelligent and say they want to be open-minded,” said Gerald Retzlaff, chairman of the Jones County Republicans, which, with 3,162 registrations, had a 459-voter edge over Democrats in the county as of early January. “But we have battle fatigue.”

He said the presidential candidates came busting in right on the heels of a hotly contested congressional race in the district in 2014 between Republican Rod Blum and Democrat Pat Murphy. Blum won.

People in Jones County have switched to cell phones just to avoid the political phone calls.

Yet in Wyoming, not a single presidential candidate has made an appearance.

“Bill Clinton’s motorcade came through town one day,” said Joan Martensen, owner of the Bear Creek Café on Main Street. “People stood out there to look.”

He didn’t stop.

Maybe he should have. On this day, the Wednesday buffet at Bear Creek is thick-sliced ham, butterfly shrimp, fried fish, spaghetti, cheesy potatoes, creamed peas, soup, salad, coleslaw and cake for dessert, all for $8.95.

Dishing up opinion is retired farmer Darrell West, who lives north of town with his wife, Doris, his partner in 59 years of marriage. They are Republicans. He likes Bush’s experience; she likes Huckabee’s Christianity.

Both think the world has gotten unsafe, and crime is an issue. Recently, she spotted three cop cars parked outside a nearby home, and it’s probably because of drugs, Doris West said. “The biggest thing I hear people say is they don’t feel safe anymore.”

“Just about every day,” her husband added, “You hear about somebody getting shot in Waterloo or Cedar Rapids.”

John Jamison, 70, joins the table with a heaping mound of food and Democratic ideas.

“Lord’s got a sense of humor, sending us this group here,” he said of the long list of Republican candidates. “You can’t throw a rock without hitting a Republican.”

He maintains his sense of humor about it. The other day he let a neighbor borrow his plumbing snake, and it came back wrapped in campaign literature from Trump and Huckabee. He slipped some Clinton literature in the man’s mailbox as a comeback.

The issues aren’t as laughable, he said. The problems with peace in the Middle East are big, but he’s also concerned about the nation’s energy policies, including too much money spent to prop up ethanol production, in his view.

“We have our nose in the trough as much as big oil,” he said. “Politicians are bribing us with our own money. ‘We will give you a dollar if you give us $3.’ “

The Wests, his table mates, just laugh. They have never gone to caucus. They are considering it this year, if they knew where it was.

Half of the people interviewed couldn’t say where their caucus will be held. Three people said they didn’t know anything about the candidates and had no interest in finding out.

“I don’t watch TV,” said Tammy Vorwald, a 30-year-old bartender at the local tavern who has a 5-year-old and an 11-month-old and is going through a divorce. “But I am concerned about security at school for my kids. You never know what could happen these days.”

She cast the first vote in her life for Mitt Romney in 2012 but doesn’t know if she will caucus.

Down at the library, Nikki Rushford, 36, is more engaged. She also is worried about her children, hoping they are safe, the border is protected and the schools have enough money to educate them.

That’s why she is in businessman Trump’s corner. “Maybe we need government run more like a business.”

Others on Main Street think the economy is a vital deciding factor, too. Holly Lane has run Holly’s Town Super Market for 26 years, taking over for her father, who ran it for more than 40.

“It’s a lot tougher to keep a small business running nowadays,” she said, sitting before the cash register. “All the big chains nearby.”

She sees too many able-bodied people with food stamps while the elderly go without, and health care is “for the poor people, not the working people like us.”

Outside, standing next to his pickup, farmer Dennis Carstensen sees things differently.

“The rich get richer, the poor get poorer,” said the Clinton supporter. “And immigration, they are getting carried away with that. That’s how this town got started. The Dutch, the Irish, the Germans and Bohemians.”

In 1855, 14 white settlers came here to start a settlement with some oxen and three dogs. They were Dutch. Just a couple of decades later, the Hotel Williams was built, and it stands today as a handsome local history museum that tells a lot about what this town is made of.

There is the jersey of the famous hometown boy, Emil “Dutch” Levsen, who won both games of a double header as a Cleveland Indians pitcher in 1926, showcasing the rugged work ethic of this rural town. And there is the World War II helmet of John “Heinie” Petersen, which has a big hole in it from enemy fire, a symbol of service to the country and the determination to soldier on. He survived and became the local postmaster.

In the museum, retirees Jim Eichhorn and Dale Lineburg would rather show off the exhibits than talk about political differences. Lineburg reluctantly says he likes Christie because Lineburg thinks he can win against the Democrats in a debate and be tough on terrorists.

“I always thought there was more Republicans here,” added the undecided Eichhorn, a registered Democrat. “I always get laughed at when I mention NPR.”

He would rather talk about why Wyoming is called “Christmas City,” where every holiday since 1939 the residents put 40 trees along the Main Street and string up 1,500 lights on three miles of wire.

Perhaps, a deal could be struck to eventually bring together these divided voters after the caucus.

A few miles south to neighboring Olin, which has one more Democrat than Republican registered, the solution surfaced at Buzz Shack, a hair salon where many decisions are made.

“Put Hillary and Donald Trump together,” said owner Kim Bixler, lifting her shears from a woman’s hair. “Donald knows about money. Hillary has the experience.”

Voter registration by county

MOST PURPLE COUNTIES

MOST REPUBLICAN COUNTIES

MOST DEMOCRATIC COUNTIES

Voter registration by city

MOST PURPLE CITIES

MOST REPUBLICAN CITIES

MOST DEMOCRATIC CITIES

Source: State voter registration data through Dec. 1