Iowa voters showed up this midterm election in droves with 1,380,528 ballots cast and a turnout of 63.4% of the 2,178,374 registered voters listed in the attached results. This is likely, in part, due to the fact it was Iowa’s first open governor’s race since 2006, and an open U.S. Senate seat was on the ballot at the same time for the first time since 1968. Overall, the state saw a shift in control with the Democrats winning the governor’s office, three U.S House seats, the U.S. Senate seat, as well as a few of the other state offices. Nonetheless, the legislature remains under Republican control. Meaning the two parties will have to work together to pass state policies and budgets. The full results of the election can be found here.
Overview of Iowans’ Recent Voter Engagement Trends
| Election | Total ballots cast | Turnout | Context |
| 2026 midterm | 1,380,528 | 63.4% | Higher than in recent midterms; still lower than the 2024 presidential election |
| 2018 midterm | 1,334,279 | 61.6% | Highest midterm turnout in state history by number of voters (Iowa Secretary of State) |
| 2022 midterm | 1,230,416 | 55.1% | Most recent midterm (Iowa Secretary of State) |
| 2024 presidential | 1,674,011 | 74.2% | Presidential-year turnout, higher than 2026 (Iowa Secretary of State) |
| Notable trends | Both ballots cast and registered-voter turnout exceeded the 2018 and 2022 figures shown above, but remained below 2024. | ||
Governor and Lieutenant Governor
Rob Sand and Dave Muhlbauer (D) defeated Zach Lahn and Derek Wulf (R) with 55.42% of the vote to 44.45%, a margin of 10.97 percentage points. The priorities Sand and Muhlbauer campaigned on centered on public education investments, including universal all-day pre-K and universal school meals, and added accountability for the private school voucher program through annual audits, income limits and limits on tuition increases; reversing Medicaid privatization by executive order; restoring the State Auditor’s investigative authority; Statewide Work, Statewide Jobs and an Office of Rural Prosperity to support rural communities; capping utility fees and raising the minimum wage; open top-four primaries; and a pledge to veto “culture war” bills.
The pair will take office in January 2027, leading the executive branch and soon after start appointing the directors of most state departments, pending confirmation by a two-thirds vote of the Iowa Senate. These appointments are important because the directors set priorities (aligned with the new governor’s agenda), interpret law, and write rules in areas such as education, workforce development, economic development, health and human services, and public safety. For community colleges, leadership at the Department of Education, Iowa Workforce Development and the Iowa Economic Development Authority is especially significant as we regularly interact with these departments.
Iowa State Legislature
Senate: Republicans retain control with a 32 Republican – 18 Democratic majority, down from 33–17 before the election. Of the 25 seats on the ballot, Republicans won 13 and Democrats won 12; the 25 holdover seats comprise 19 Republicans and 6 Democrats. Democrats gained Senate Districts 21 and 47, while Republicans gained District 35, for a net Democratic gain of one seat. Republicans remain short of the 34 votes needed for a two-thirds majority, so members of both parties will have to vote together to confirm the governor’s appointees or override a veto.
House: On the House side of the legislature, Republicans retain control of the majority with a final breakdown of 56 Republican – 44 Democratic. All 100 seats were on the ballot. Republicans entered the election with a 67–33 majority, which put them at exactly a supermajority. With the gain of 11 seats by the Democrats, the Republicans no longer hold a supermajority and the two parties will have to vote together to override a veto.
House seats that changed parties: Democrats flipped House Districts 28, 40, 41, 43, 46, 52, 59, 69, 72, 96 and 99 from Republican control, accounting for their net gain of 11 seats.
Close legislative races: 13 House races and 4 Senate races decided by five percentage points or less. House District 19 was decided by 37 votes and Senate District 47 by 151 votes; a candidate may request a recount after the county canvass.
Significance of the two-thirds majority: A two-thirds majority vote requires 67 of 100 in the House and 34 of 50 in the Senate and it matters in three main ways. The first is overriding the governor’s veto. The second is confirming a governor’s appointees, which only occurs in the Senate. Last is the newly required two-thirds vote to raise income or corporate tax rates with the passage of Amendment 1.
What’s to come: leaders, committees, and chairs: With elections completed, we’ll see activity from legislatures in the next couple of weeks as each chamber’s party selects its leaders, and the leaders of the majority party deciding which committees exist, who chairs them, and how many seats each party holds.
- Make-up of committees: The majority party holds most seats in each committee. Membership on committees usually considers which legislators are best positioned to champion or oppose specific policies based on their experience, and who will review the governor’s appointees before floor votes.
- Committee chairs: Chairs control the committee agenda; decide which bills receive hearings and appoint the subcommittees that review bills in detail. A bill that is not taken up in committee generally does not advance.
Other statewide office races
Attorney General: Democrat Nate Willems defeated incumbent Republican Brenna Bird, 50.8% to 49.1%, with 681,097 votes to 657,405, a margin of 23,692 votes. Willems is a former state representative (2009–2013) and a labor and employment attorney. Bird was the first Republican to serve as attorney general since 1979.
The attorney general helps shape Iowa’s role in lawsuits challenging federal policies, including whether the state joins multistate coalitions seeking to block federal actions. These cases can affect funding and regulatory requirements relevant to community colleges. An attorney general can request an injunction—a court order temporarily blocking a challenged policy while litigation proceeds—but only a court can grant it. Following the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2025 decision in Trump v. CASA, injunctions generally cannot extend beyond what is necessary to provide complete relief to the parties before the court. Iowa’s participation may therefore matter to the scope of relief available, although joining a lawsuit does not guarantee protection for every resident or institution. The change in officeholder could shift Iowa’s litigation priorities; specific decisions will depend on the cases and legal grounds involved.
Secretary of State: Incumbent Republican Paul Pate led Democrat Ryan Peterman, 53.2% to 46.7%, with 711,766 votes to 625,867, a margin of 85,899 votes. Secretary of State administers Iowa’s elections and certifies results.
Treasurer of State: Incumbent Republican Roby Smith led Democrat John Norwood, 50.3% to 49.6%, with 664,948 votes to 655,763, a margin of 9,185 votes. The Treasurer is the state’s chief financial officer, managing investments and tracking state budgets.
Auditor of State: Democrat Taylor Wettach led Republican Lt. Gov. Chris Cournoyer for the open seat Rob Sand held before running for governor, 50.2% to 49.7%, with 666,632 votes to 660,159, a margin of 6,473 votes. Wettach campaigned on restoring the auditor’s investigative authority.
Secretary of Agriculture: Incumbent Republican Mike Naig led Democrat Chris Jones, 52.7% to 47.2%, with 701,882 votes to 629,249, a margin of 72,633 votes.
Congressional Races
Democrats flipped the open U.S. Senate seat and three of Iowa’s four U.S. House seats. Republicans, who held all these seats going into the election, kept only the 4th District. These races do not directly change state government but shape the broader political environment.
U.S. Senate (open seat; Joni Ernst did not seek a third term): Democrat Josh Turek, a state representative and four-time Paralympian, defeated Republican Rep. Ashley Hinson, 50.4% to 46.3%, with Libertarian Thomas Laehn at 3.1% (unofficial results). It is the first Democratic U.S. Senate victory in Iowa since 2008.
District 1 (southeast Iowa; Bohannan defeated Miller-Meeks): Democrat Christina Bohannan, a University of Iowa law professor and former state representative, unseated Republican Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, 52.7% to 43.5%, with Independent Michael Bridgford at 3.6%. It was the third consecutive matchup between the two (Bohannan lost in 2022 and 2024), and it will be the district’s first Democratic representative since 2019.
District 2 (northeast Iowa; open seat; James defeated Mitchell): Democrat Lindsay James, a state representative and Presbyterian pastor from Dubuque, defeated Republican Joe Mitchell, 49.5% to 45.5%, with Libertarian Rick Stewart at 2.7% and Independent Dave Bushaw at 2.2%. The seat was open because Rep. Ashley Hinson ran for the U.S. Senate.
District 3 (Des Moines metro and south-central Iowa; Trone Garriott defeated Nunn): Democrat Sarah Trone Garriott, a state senator and Lutheran minister from West Des Moines, defeated Republican Rep. Zach Nunn, 53.5% to 46.2%, flipping the district. The seat was held by Nunn for two terms, and has historically never seen anyone win a third bid for the seat.
District 4 (western Iowa; open seat; McGowan defeated Dawson): Republican Chris McGowan, president of the Siouxland Chamber of Commerce, defeated Democrat Dave Dawson, 59.0% to 40.9%, keeping the seat in Republican control. The seat was open because Rep. Randy Feenstra ran for governor.
Specialty Issues
Amendment 1: The proposed constitutional amendment passed with 56.25% voting yes and 43.75% voting no. This means it will now require a two-thirds vote of both chambers to raise the individual or corporate income tax rate (currently a flat 3.8%), to raise the rate of any other tax based on income or legal and special reserves, or to create a new state tax on income. The requirement does not apply to taxes imposed at the option of local government. This gives a one-third minority in either chamber added influence over future income tax increases, which raises the stakes of which party holds a legislative supermajority. Prior to this amendment, only a simple majority was needed (51 House members and 26 senators).
Kirkwood Community College bond: Voters approved Public Measure NC with 69.72% voting yes and 30.28% voting no. The measure authorizes up to $88 million in general obligation bonds to modernize facilities supporting health sciences, industrial technologies, agriculture, business and information technology.
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