Claire Celsi
Claire Celsi (Democratic Party) was a member of the Iowa State Senate, representing District 16. She assumed office on January 3, 2023. She left office on October 6, 2025.
Celsi (Democratic Party) ran for re-election to the Iowa State Senate to represent District 16. She won in the general election on November 5, 2024.
Celsi died on October 6, 2025.[1]
Biography
Claire Celsi was born in Des Moines, Iowa.[2] Celsi graduated from Dowling Catholic High School. She earned a B.A. in sociology from Drake University in 2001. Celsi's career experience includes owning Claire Celsi Consulting and The Public Relations Project and working as a contributing editor to Ragan's PR Daily, a blog contributor to the Des Moines Business Record and the Iowa Biz Blog, and an adjunct professor with Drake University.[2][3]
Committee assignments
2025-2026
Celsi was assigned to the following committees:
- Senate Transportation Committee
- Senate State Government Committee
- Natural Resources & Environment Committee
- Health and Human Services
- Senate Government Oversight Committee
2023-2024
Celsi was assigned to the following committees:
- Senate Appropriations Committee
- Senate Education Committee
- Senate Government Oversight Committee, Ranking Member
- Natural Resources & Environment Committee
- Senate State Government Committee
- Senate Transportation Committee
2021-2022
Celsi was assigned to the following committees:
- Senate Appropriations Committee
- Senate Education Committee
- Senate Government Oversight Committee, Ranking member
- Senate State Government Committee
- Natural Resources & Environment Committee
2019-2020
Celsi was assigned to the following committees:
- Senate Appropriations Committee
- Senate Education Committee
- Natural Resources & Environment Committee
- Senate Government Oversight Committee
- Senate State Government Committee
Sponsored legislation
The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according to BillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.
Elections
2024
See also: Iowa State Senate elections, 2024
General election
General election for Iowa State Senate District 16
Incumbent Claire Celsi defeated Joshua Smith in the general election for Iowa State Senate District 16 on November 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Claire Celsi (D) | 69.5 | 21,557 |
 | Joshua Smith (L) | 29.6 | 9,184 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 1.0 | 296 | ||
| Total votes: 31,037 | |||
 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Iowa State Senate District 16
Incumbent Claire Celsi defeated Julie Lasche Brown in the Democratic primary for Iowa State Senate District 16 on June 4, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Claire Celsi | 80.5 | 2,466 |
| Julie Lasche Brown | 19.4 | 595 | ||
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.0 | 1 | ||
| Total votes: 3,062 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Campaign finance
Endorsements
Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Celsi in this election.
2022
See also: Iowa State Senate elections, 2022
General election
General election for Iowa State Senate District 16
Incumbent Claire Celsi defeated Brad Price in the general election for Iowa State Senate District 16 on November 8, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Claire Celsi (D) | 58.1 | 16,263 |
| Brad Price (R) | 41.8 | 11,692 | ||
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.1 | 28 | ||
| Total votes: 27,983 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Iowa State Senate District 16
Incumbent Claire Celsi advanced from the Democratic primary for Iowa State Senate District 16 on June 7, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Claire Celsi | 99.4 | 5,307 |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.6 | 30 | ||
| Total votes: 5,337 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Republican primary election
Republican primary for Iowa State Senate District 16
Brad Price defeated Shad Clayton in the Republican primary for Iowa State Senate District 16 on June 7, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Brad Price | 50.3 | 1,576 | |
| Shad Clayton | 49.5 | 1,551 | ||
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.2 | 5 | ||
| Total votes: 3,132 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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2018
- See also: Iowa State Senate elections, 2018
General election
General election for Iowa State Senate District 21
Claire Celsi defeated Brian Bales in the general election for Iowa State Senate District 21 on November 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Claire Celsi (D) | 66.0 | 20,499 |
| Brian Bales (R) | 33.8 | 10,511 | ||
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.1 | 46 | ||
| Total votes: 31,056 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Iowa State Senate District 21
Claire Celsi defeated Connie Ryan in the Democratic primary for Iowa State Senate District 21 on June 5, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Claire Celsi | 58.1 | 5,287 |
| Connie Ryan | 41.9 | 3,818 | ||
| Total votes: 9,105 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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Republican primary election
Republican primary for Iowa State Senate District 21
Brian Bales advanced from the Republican primary for Iowa State Senate District 21 on June 5, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Brian Bales | 100.0 | 1,058 | |
| Total votes: 1,058 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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2016
Elections for the Iowa House of Representatives took place in 2016. The primary election took place on June 7, 2016, and the general election was held on November 8, 2016. The candidate filing deadline was March 18, 2016.
Incumbent Peter Cownie defeated Claire Celsi in the Iowa House of Representatives District 42 general election.[4][5]
| Iowa House of Representatives, District 42 General Election, 2016 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican |  Peter Cownie Incumbent |
53.28% | 9,065 | |
| Democratic | Claire Celsi | 46.72% | 7,948 | |
| Total Votes | 17,013 | |||
| Source: Iowa Secretary of State | ||||
Claire Celsi ran unopposed in the Iowa House of Representatives District 42 Democratic primary.[6][7]
| Iowa House of Representatives, District 42 Democratic Primary, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | |
| Democratic | Claire Celsi (unopposed) | |
Incumbent Peter Cownie ran unopposed in the Iowa House of Representatives District 42 Republican primary.[6][7]
| Iowa House of Representatives, District 42 Republican Primary, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | |
| Republican | Peter Cownie Incumbent (unopposed) | |
Campaign themes
2024
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Claire Celsi did not complete Ballotpedia's 2024 Candidate Connection survey.
2022
Claire Celsi did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
Scorecards
A scorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.
Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.
Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states. To contribute to the list of scorecards, email suggestions to editor@ballotpedia.org.
Below you can find the scorecards found for the Iowa General Assembly in 2025.
- The Freedom Index — Legislators are scored on their adherence to the limited government principles of the U.S. Constitution.
Below you can find the scorecards found for the Iowa General Assembly in 2024.
- Club for Growth Foundation — Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to economic issues.
- Iowa Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO — Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to labor issues.
- National Federation of Independent Business — Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to business issues.
Below you can find the scorecards found for the Iowa General Assembly in 2023.
- Iowa Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO — Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to labor issues.
Below you can find the scorecards found for the Iowa General Assembly in 2022.
- Iowa Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO — Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to labor issues.
- National Federation of Independent Business — Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to business issues.
Below you can find the scorecards found for the Iowa General Assembly in 2021.
- Club for Growth Foundation — Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to economic issues.
- Iowa Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO — Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to labor issues.
- The American Conservative Union — Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues.
Below you can find the scorecards found for the Iowa General Assembly in 2020.
- Club for Growth Foundation — Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to economic issues.
- Iowa Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO — Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to labor issues.
- National Federation of Independent Business — Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to business issues.
- The American Conservative Union — Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues.
Below you can find the scorecards found for the Iowa General Assembly in 2019.
- Club for Growth Foundation — Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to economic issues.
- Iowa Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO — Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to labor issues.
- The American Conservative Union — Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues.
See also
2024 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ The De Moines Register, "Iowa Sen. Claire Celsi, remembered as 'an absolute force,' dies at 59," October 6, 2025
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 The Iowa Legislature, "Claire Celsi - All Years," accessed May 16, 2023
- ↑ LinkedIn, "Claire Celsi," accessed May 16, 2023
- ↑ Iowa Secretary of State, "General Candidate List, 2016," accessed August 24, 2016
- ↑ Iowa Secretary of State, "2016 General Election Canvass Summary," accessed December 16, 2016
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Iowa Secretary of State, "Candidate Listing by Office," March 21, 2016
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Iowa Secretary of State, "2016 Primary Election Canvass Summary," accessed August 22, 2016
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Nate Boulton (D) |
Iowa State Senate District 16 2023-2025 |
Succeeded by Renee Hardman (D) |
| Preceded by Matt McCoy (D) |
Iowa State Senate District 21 2019-2023 |
Succeeded by Mike Bousselot (R) |
