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Democratic Party primaries in Iowa, 2026

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2024

Democratic Party primaries, 2026

Iowa Democratic Party.jpg

Primary Date
June 2, 2026

Federal elections
Democratic primaries for U.S. House

State party
Democratic Party of Iowa
State political party revenue

This page focuses on the Democratic primaries that will take place in Iowa on June 2, 2026.

A primary election is an election in which registered voters select a candidate that they believe should be a political party's candidate for elected office to run in the general election. They are also used to choose convention delegates and party leaders. Primaries are state-level and local-level elections that take place prior to a general election. In Iowa, state law provides for a closed primary where every voter must be affiliated with a party in order to participate in its primary. However, a voter can change his or her political party affiliation on the day of the primary.[1][2]

For information about which offices are nominated via primary election, see this article.

Federal elections

U.S. Senate

See also: United States Senate election in Iowa, 2026 (June 2 Democratic primary)

A Democratic Party primary takes place on June 2, 2026, in Iowa to determine which Democratic candidate will run in the state's general election on November 3, 2026.

Democratic primary

The candidate list in this election may not be complete.

Democratic primary for U.S. Senate Iowa

Josh Turek (D) and Zach Wahls (D) are running in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate Iowa on June 2, 2026.


Candidate Connection = 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.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

U.S. House

See also: United States House elections in Iowa, 2026 (June 2 Democratic primaries)
The U.S. House of Representatives elections in Iowa are scheduled on November 3, 2026. Voters will elect four candidates to serve in the U.S. House from each of the state's four U.S. House districts. The primary is June 2, 2026. The filing deadline was March 13, 2026. To see a full list of candidates in the primary in each district, click "Show more" below.
Show more

District 1

Democratic Party Democratic primary candidates


Did not make the ballot:
Candidate Connection = candidate completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey

District 2

Democratic Party Democratic primary candidates


Did not make the ballot:
Candidate Connection = candidate completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey

District 3

Democratic Party Democratic primary candidates


Did not make the ballot:
Candidate Connection = candidate completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey

District 4

Democratic Party Democratic primary candidates


Did not make the ballot:
Candidate Connection = candidate completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey

State elections

State Senate

See also: Iowa State Senate elections, 2026
Elections for the Iowa State Senate will take place in 2026. The general election is on November 3, 2026. The primary is June 2, 2026. The filing deadline was March 13, 2026. To see a full list of state Senate candidates in the Democratic primaries, click "Show more" below.
Show more

Iowa State Senate elections, 2026

  • Incumbents are marked with an (i) after their name.
  • Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
  • Please contact Ballotpedia about candidate additions, withdrawals, or disqualifications.
Office Democratic Party Democratic Republican Party Republican Other
District 1

Catelin Drey (i)

Christopher Prosch

District 3

Mike Frantz

K. Lynn Evans (i)
Shane Bellefy

District 5

The Democratic primary was canceled.


Dave Rowley (i)
Stacy Besch

District 7

The Democratic primary was canceled.


Kevin Alons (i)

District 9

The Democratic primary was canceled.


Steve Baier

District 11

Sinikka Waugh

Mandee Shivers  Candidate Connection
Jon Thorup
Hollie Zajicek

District 13

Brenda Case

Edwin Brand
Austin Garmon
Jeff Kulmatycki

Did not make the ballot:
Cherielynn Westrich (i)

District 15

The Democratic primary was canceled.


Tony Bisignano (i)

District 17

Samy El-Baroudi
Grace Van Cleave

Ronald Langston

District 19

Zachary Mecham

Bob Eschliman
Barb Kniff McCulla

District 21

Heather Matson

John Hollinrake

Did not make the ballot:
Eric Pearson 

District 23

Tony Thompson

Mike Bousselot (i)
Wes Enos

District 25

Herman Quirmbach (i)

The Republican primary was canceled.


District 27

The Democratic primary was canceled.


Annette Sweeney (i)
Rocky Damiano

District 29

Jim Vowels

Sandy Salmon (i)

District 31

Timi Brown-Powers

The Republican primary was canceled.


District 33

The Democratic primary was canceled.


Carrie Koelker (i)

District 35

Mike Zimmer (i)

Joe Stutting

District 37

Molly Donahue (i)

Randy Marzen

District 39

Liz Bennett (i)

The Republican primary was canceled.


District 41

Tom Wieck

Kerry Gruenhagen (i)

District 43

Meghann Foster

The Republican primary was canceled.


District 45

Janice Weiner (i)

The Republican primary was canceled.


District 47

Nikhil Wagle

Scott Webster (i)

District 49

Cindy Winckler (i)

Cynthia Mensendick


House of Representatives

See also: Iowa House of Representatives elections, 2026
Elections for the Iowa House of Representatives will take place in 2026. The general election is on November 3, 2026. The primary is June 2, 2026. The filing deadline was March 13, 2026. To see a full list of state House candidates in the Democratic primaries, click "Show more" below.
Show more

Iowa House of Representatives elections, 2026

  • Incumbents are marked with an (i) after their name.
  • Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
  • Please contact Ballotpedia about candidate additions, withdrawals, or disqualifications.
Office Democratic Party Democratic Republican Party Republican Other
District 1

Kenneth Kroll
Shawn Olorundami

Josh Steinhoff

District 2

Jessica Lopez-Walker

Robert Henderson (i)

District 3

The Democratic primary was canceled.


Robert Driesen

District 4

The Democratic primary was canceled.


Skyler Wheeler (i)

Did not make the ballot:
Douglas Jensen 

District 5

The Democratic primary was canceled.


Keith Glienke
Michael Schnoes

District 6

The Democratic primary was canceled.


Megan Jones (i)

District 7

Rachel Burns

Wendy Larson (i)

District 8

Kristofer Williams

Ann Meyer (i)

District 9

The Democratic primary was canceled.


Henry Stone (i)

District 10

The Democratic primary was canceled.


John Wills (i)

District 11

Bill Owen

Craig Williams (i)

District 12

Dustin Durbin
Brady Meyer  Candidate Connection

Steven Holt (i)

District 13

The Democratic primary was canceled.


Travis Sitzmann (i)

District 14

The Democratic primary was canceled.


Jacob Bossman (i)

District 15

Benjamin Schauer

Bryan Holder
Jason Sherer
Toni Waite

District 16

Jack Goodman

David Sieck (i)

District 17

The Democratic primary was canceled.


Devon Wood (i)
Shaun Kelley

District 18

Tripp Narup

Tom Moore (i)

District 19

Benjamin Larson

Brent Siegrist (i)

District 20

Eric Armstrong

Keith Jones

District 21

Spencer Waugh

Brooke Boden (i)

District 22

Rory Taylor

Samantha Fett (i)

District 23

Karen Varley

Ray Sorensen (i)

District 24

Paul Davis
Sonya Hicks

Sam Wengryn (i)

District 25

The Democratic primary was canceled.


Hans Wilz (i)

District 26

Brett Mohler

Austin Harris (i)

District 27

Kenan Judge (i)

The Republican primary was canceled.


District 28

Tom Walton

David Young (i)

District 29

Brian Meyer (i)

The Republican primary was canceled.


District 30

Megan Srinivas (i)

The Republican primary was canceled.


District 31

Mary Madison (i)

Kevin DuBay

District 32

Mike Jones

The Republican primary was canceled.


District 33

Blake Clyde  Candidate Connection
Ivette Muhammad
Randolph Scott
Cody Smith

Lynn Hammel

District 34

Rob Johnson (i)

The Republican primary was canceled.


District 35

Sean Bagniewski (i)

The Republican primary was canceled.


District 36

Austin Baeth (i)

The Republican primary was canceled.


District 37

The Democratic primary was canceled.


Jason Sandholdt
Chase Spencer

District 38

Brad Magg

Matt Oleson

District 39

Nate Boulton

Troy Clark

District 40

Heather Sievers

Bill Gustoff (i)

District 41

Molly Buck

Ryan Weldon (i)

District 42

Amy Tagliareni

Heather Stephenson

District 43

Jill Alesch

Nicole Hasso
Brett Nelson
Russell Saffell  Candidate Connection

District 44

Larry McBurney (i)

The Republican primary was canceled.


District 45

Kendra Haug

Brian Lohse (i)
Austin Stubbs

District 46

Anne Craven  Candidate Connection
Erin Helleso  Candidate Connection
Mandy Newton Rosenow

Dan Gehlbach (i)

District 47

Chris New
Charley Newman

Carter Nordman (i)
Jeremy King

District 48

Guy Morgan  Candidate Connection
Benjamin Olsen  Candidate Connection
Daniel Wojcik

Chad Behn (i)

District 49

Beth Wessel-Kroeschell (i)

The Republican primary was canceled.


District 50

Ross Wilburn (i)

The Republican primary was canceled.


District 51

Teresa Perin

Brett Barker (i)
Shane Heintz

District 52

Mike Tupper

David Blom (i)

District 53

The Democratic primary was canceled.


Did not make the ballot:
Berleen Wobete 

Dean Fisher (i)

District 54

Leila Staton  Candidate Connection

Joshua Meggers (i)

District 55

Cynthia Paschen

Kurtis Bower
Beau Klaver
Brian Young

Did not make the ballot:
Bryson Zabel 

District 56

Kyle Kruse

Mark Thompson (i)

District 57

Shawn Ellerbroek

Pat Grassley (i)

District 58

India May  Candidate Connection

Charley Thomson (i)

District 59

Jacob Welper

Christian Hermanson (i)
Rugby Sliger

District 60

Alexander Schmidt

Jane Bloomingdale (i)
Dani Ollenburg

District 61

Vincent Collis  Candidate Connection

The Republican primary was canceled.


District 62

Jerome Amos Jr. (i)

The Republican primary was canceled.


District 63

Jeff Thurlow

Michael Bergan (i)
Matthew Smith

District 64

Brian Bruening

Jason Gearhart (i)

District 65

Carolyn Wiezorek

Shannon Lundgren (i)

District 66

Matt English

Steven Bradley (i)

District 67

Michael Coonrad  Candidate Connection

Craig Johnson (i)

District 68

Scott Bodley

Chad Ingels (i)
Adam Thimmesch

District 69

Randy Meier

Tom Determann (i)

District 70

George Pickup

Norlin Mommsen (i)

District 71

Sam Wooden

The Republican primary was canceled.


District 72

Eli Licht
Matt Robinson

Jennifer Smith (i)

District 73

Elizabeth Wilson (i)

The Republican primary was canceled.


District 74

Eric Gjerde (i)

The Republican primary was canceled.


District 75

Drew Stensland

Did not make the ballot:
Jared Gadson 

The Republican primary was canceled.


District 76

Calvin Horn

Derek Wulf (i)

District 77

Jeff Cooling (i)

The Republican primary was canceled.


District 78

Angel Ramirez (i)

The Republican primary was canceled.


District 79

Tracy Ehlert (i)

Barclay Woerner

District 80

Aime Wichtendahl (i)

The Republican primary was canceled.


Did not make the ballot:
John Thompson 

District 81

Daniel Gosa (i)

Dillon Fillion  Candidate Connection

District 82

James Behrmann

Bobby Kaufmann (i)

District 83

The Democratic primary was canceled.


Cindy Golding (i)

District 84

Polly Denison

Thomas Gerhold (i)

District 85

Amy Nielsen (i)

The Republican primary was canceled.


District 86

David Jacoby (i)

The Republican primary was canceled.


District 87

Thomas O'Donnell

Jeff Shipley (i)

District 88

The Democratic primary was canceled.


Helena Hayes (i)
Grant Hill  Candidate Connection
Aaron Hinnah

District 89

Elinor Levin (i)

The Republican primary was canceled.


District 90

Adam Zabner (i)

The Republican primary was canceled.


District 91

The Democratic primary was canceled.


Judd Lawler (i)

District 92

Brittany Erickson

Heather Hora (i)

District 93

Keith Soko

Gary Mohr (i)

District 94

The Democratic primary was canceled.


Mike Vondran (i)

District 95

The Democratic primary was canceled.


Taylor Collins (i)

District 96

Michelle Servadio Elias
Nick Salazar

Mark Cisneros (i)
Matt Conard

District 97

Ken Croken (i)
Adam Peters

The Republican primary was canceled.


District 98

Andrew Fitzgerald  Candidate Connection
Ruth Ann Gallagher

Nathan Ramker

District 99

Jim Beres
Marcques Derby
Jennifer Kirkman

Matthew Rinker (i)

District 100

Matt Mohrfeld

Blaine Watkins (i)


State executive offices

See also: Iowa state executive official elections, 2026

Seven state executive offices are up for election in Iowa in 2026:

Governor
Lieutenant Governor
Attorney General
Secretary of State
Auditor
Agriculture Commissioner
Treasurer


To see a full list of candidates in the Democratic primaries, click "Show more" below.
Show more

Governor of Iowa

Democratic primary candidates


Did not make the ballot:

Lieutenant Governor of Iowa

Democratic primary candidates

No candidates filed for the Democratic Party primary.

    Attorney General of Iowa

    Democratic primary candidates

    Iowa Secretary of State

    Democratic primary candidates

    Iowa Auditor of State

    Democratic primary candidates

    Iowa Secretary of Agriculture

    Democratic primary candidates

    Iowa Treasurer of State

    Democratic primary candidates

    Voting information

    See also: Voting in Iowa

    Election information in Iowa: June 2, 2026, election.

    What is the voter registration deadline?

    • In-person: June 2, 2026
    • By mail: Postmarked by May 18, 2026
    • Online: May 18, 2026

    Is absentee/mail-in voting available to all voters?

    N/A

    What is the absentee/mail-in ballot request deadline?

    • In-person: May 18, 2026
    • By mail: Received by May 18, 2026
    • Online: N/A

    What is the absentee/mail-in ballot return deadline?

    • In-person: June 2, 2026
    • By mail: Received by June 2, 2026

    Is early voting available to all voters?

    Yes

    What are the early voting start and end dates?

    May 13, 2026 to June 1, 2026

    Are all voters required to present ID at the polls? If so, is a photo or non-photo ID required?

    N/A

    When are polls open on Election Day?

    7:00 a.m. - 8:00 p.m. (CT)


    Context of the 2026 elections

    Iowa Party Control: 1992-2026
    Four years of Democratic trifectas  •  Twelve years of Republican trifectas
    Scroll left and right on the table below to view more years.

    Year 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26
    Governor R R R R R R R D D D D D D D D D D D D R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R
    Senate D D D D D R R R R R R R R S S D D D D D D D D D D R R R R R R R R R R
    House D R R R R R R R R R R R R R R D D D D R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R

    State party overview

    Democratic Party of Iowa

    See also: Democratic Party of Iowa

    Party control
    in Iowa
    GovernorRepublican
    SenateRepublican
    HouseRepublican
    Click here for party control in all 50 states

    Iowa has a Republican trifecta and a Republican triplex. The Republican Party controls the offices of governor, secretary of state, attorney general, and both chambers of the state legislature.



    State political party revenue

    See also: State political party revenue and State political party revenue per capita

    State political parties typically deposit revenue in separate state and federal accounts in order to comply with state and federal campaign finance laws.

    The Democratic Party and the Republican Party maintain state affiliates in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and select U.S. territories. The following map displays total state political party revenue per capita for the Democratic state party affiliates.


    Pivot Counties

    See also: Pivot Counties by state

    Thirty-one of 99 Iowa counties—31 percent—are Pivot Counties. Pivot Counties are counties that voted for Barack Obama (D) in 2008 and 2012 and for Donald Trump (R) in 2016. Altogether, the nation had 206 Pivot Counties, with most being concentrated in upper midwestern and northeastern states.

    Counties won by Trump in 2016 and Obama in 2012 and 2008
    County Trump margin of victory in 2016 Obama margin of victory in 2012 Obama margin of victory in 2008
    Allamakee County, Iowa 24.15% 4.17% 14.25%
    Boone County, Iowa 13.69% 6.64% 7.63%
    Bremer County, Iowa 13.68% 2.68% 9.31%
    Buchanan County, Iowa 15.02% 13.87% 18.48%
    Cedar County, Iowa 17.78% 4.59% 9.64%
    Cerro Gordo County, Iowa 7.66% 13.38% 20.83%
    Chickasaw County, Iowa 22.94% 11.07% 20.74%
    Clarke County, Iowa 28.02% 1.47% 2.25%
    Clayton County, Iowa 22.78% 7.03% 17.17%
    Clinton County, Iowa 5.12% 22.84% 23.03%
    Des Moines County, Iowa 6.89% 18.41% 23.04%
    Dubuque County, Iowa 1.23% 14.71% 20.77%
    Fayette County, Iowa 19.36% 11.96% 16.60%
    Floyd County, Iowa 14.84% 14.63% 21.88%
    Howard County, Iowa 20.49% 20.95% 25.78%
    Jackson County, Iowa 19.27% 16.89% 24.39%
    Jasper County, Iowa 18.13% 7.07% 7.50%
    Jefferson County, Iowa 0.47% 15.97% 20.23%
    Jones County, Iowa 19.08% 7.78% 10.40%
    Lee County, Iowa 16.02% 15.49% 16.01%
    Louisa County, Iowa 28.37% 0.64% 4.25%
    Marshall County, Iowa 8.31% 9.36% 9.35%
    Mitchell County, Iowa 24.04% 3.37% 12.31%
    Muscatine County, Iowa 6.26% 15.88% 15.64%
    Poweshiek County, Iowa 6.53% 9.35% 11.75%
    Tama County, Iowa 20.28% 7.43% 12.19%
    Union County, Iowa 27.49% 3.86% 3.70%
    Wapello County, Iowa 20.60% 11.88% 13.53%
    Webster County, Iowa 21.52% 5.84% 8.51%
    Winneshiek County, Iowa 0.79% 14.74% 22.65%
    Worth County, Iowa 21.68% 14.53% 22.42%

    In the 2016 presidential election, Donald Trump (R) won Iowa with 51.1 percent of the vote. Hillary Clinton (D) received 41.7 percent. In presidential elections between 1848 and 2016, Iowa voted Republican 69.76 percent of the time and Democratic 30.23 percent of the time. In the five presidential elections between 2000 and 2016, Iowa voted Democratic three times and Republican the other two times.[3]

    Presidential results by legislative district

    The following table details results of the 2012 and 2016 presidential elections by state House districts in Iowa. Click [show] to expand the table. The "Obama," "Romney," "Clinton," and "Trump" columns describe the percent of the vote each presidential candidate received in the district. The "2012 Margin" and "2016 Margin" columns describe the margin of victory between the two presidential candidates in those years. The "Party Control" column notes which party held that seat heading into the 2018 general election. Data on the results of the 2012 and 2016 presidential elections broken down by state legislative districts was compiled by Daily Kos.[4][5]

    In 2012, Barack Obama (D) won 61 out of 100 state House districts in Iowa with an average margin of victory of 19.1 points. In 2016, Hillary Clinton (D) won 35 out of 100 state House districts in Iowa with an average margin of victory of 18.8 points. Clinton won four districts controlled by Republicans heading into the 2018 elections.
    In 2012, Mitt Romney (R) won 39 out of 100 state House districts in Iowa with an average margin of victory of 13.3 points. In 2016, Donald Trump (R) won 65 out of 100 state House districts in Iowa with an average margin of victory of 24.5 points. Trump won 10 districts controlled by Democrats heading into the 2018 elections.


    See also


    External links

    Footnotes