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Iowa Secretary of State election, 2026

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2022
Iowa Secretary of State
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General election
Election details
Filing deadline: March 13, 2026
Primary: June 2, 2026
General: November 3, 2026
How to vote
Poll times:

7 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Voting in Iowa

Ballotpedia analysis
Federal and state primary competitiveness
State executive elections in 2026
Impact of term limits in 2026
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Ballotpedia's Election Analysis Hub, 2026
Iowa
executive elections
Governor

Lieutenant Governor
Attorney General
Secretary of State
Auditor
Agriculture Commissioner
Treasurer

Iowa is holding an election for secretary of state on November 3, 2026.

To learn more about other elections on the ballot, click here.

Candidates and election results

Note: The following list includes official candidates only. Ballotpedia defines official candidates as people who:

  • Register with a federal or state campaign finance agency before the candidate filing deadline
  • Appear on candidate lists released by government election agencies

Note: At this time, Ballotpedia is combining all declared candidates for this election into one list under a general election heading. As primary election dates are published, this information will be updated to separate general election candidates from primary candidates as appropriate.

General election

The general election will occur on November 3, 2026.

General election for Iowa Secretary of State

Ryan Peterman is running in the general election for Iowa Secretary of State on November 3, 2026.


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Candidate profiles

There are currently no candidate profiles created for this race. Candidate profiles will appear here as they are created. Encourage the candidates in this race to complete Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey so that their profile will appear here. You can ask candidates in this race to fill out the survey by clicking their names below:

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Voting information

See also: Voting in Iowa

Ballotpedia will publish the dates and deadlines related to this election as they are made available.


Past elections

The section below details election results for this office in elections dating back to 2014.

2022

See also: Iowa Secretary of State election, 2022

General election

General election for Iowa Secretary of State

Incumbent Paul Pate defeated Joel Miller in the general election for Iowa Secretary of State on November 8, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Paul Pate
Paul Pate (R) Candidate Connection
 
60.0
 
723,250
Image of Joel Miller
Joel Miller (D) Candidate Connection
 
39.9
 
480,474
 Other/Write-in votes
 
0.1
 
708

Total votes: 1,204,432
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.

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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Iowa Secretary of State

Joel Miller defeated Eric Van Lancker in the Democratic primary for Iowa Secretary of State on June 7, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Joel Miller
Joel Miller Candidate Connection
 
71.6
 
98,049
Image of Eric Van Lancker
Eric Van Lancker
 
28.2
 
38,646
 Other/Write-in votes
 
0.2
 
294

Total votes: 136,989
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.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Iowa Secretary of State

Incumbent Paul Pate advanced from the Republican primary for Iowa Secretary of State on June 7, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Paul Pate
Paul Pate Candidate Connection
 
99.7
 
174,513
 Other/Write-in votes
 
0.3
 
567

Total votes: 175,080
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.

2018

See also: Iowa Secretary of State election, 2018

General election

General election for Iowa Secretary of State

Incumbent Paul Pate defeated Deidre DeJear and Jules Ofenbakh in the general election for Iowa Secretary of State on November 6, 2018.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Paul Pate
Paul Pate (R)
 
52.7
 
685,780
Image of Deidre DeJear
Deidre DeJear (D) Candidate Connection
 
44.9
 
583,774
Image of Jules Ofenbakh
Jules Ofenbakh (L)
 
2.4
 
30,881
 Other/Write-in votes
 
0.0
 
482

Total votes: 1,300,917
(100.00% precincts reporting)
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.

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Iowa Secretary of State

Deidre DeJear defeated Jim Mowrer in the Democratic primary for Iowa Secretary of State on June 5, 2018.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Deidre DeJear
Deidre DeJear Candidate Connection
 
51.2
 
82,221
Image of Jim Mowrer
Jim Mowrer
 
48.8
 
78,409

Total votes: 160,630
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.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Iowa Secretary of State

Incumbent Paul Pate advanced from the Republican primary for Iowa Secretary of State on June 5, 2018.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Paul Pate
Paul Pate
 
100.0
 
88,303

Total votes: 88,303
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.

2014

See also: Iowa secretary of state election, 2014
Secretary of State of Iowa, 2014
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Republican Green check mark transparent.pngPaul Pate 48.5% 529,275
     Democratic Brad Anderson 46.6% 509,202
     Libertarian Jake Porter 3% 32,889
     New Independent Party Spencer Highland 1.8% 19,945
     Nonpartisan Write-in votes 0.1% 769
Total Votes 1,092,080
Election results via Iowa Secretary of State

Election analysis

This section will contain facts and figures related to this state's elections when those are available.

Secretary of State elections in 2026

There are 26 secretary of state seats on the ballot in 2026.

See also

Iowa State Executive Elections News and Analysis
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Iowa State Executive Offices
Iowa State Legislature
Iowa Courts
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Iowa elections: 2025202420232022202120202019201820172016
Party control of state government
State government trifectas
State of the state addresses
Partisan composition of governors

External links

Footnotes