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Iowa State Senate elections

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This page displays election information for the Iowa State Senate.

Elections

Iowa state senators serve staggered, four-year terms and half of the Senate is up for election every two years. Iowa holds elections for its legislature in even years.

2026

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.

2024

See also: Iowa State Senate elections, 2024

Elections for the Iowa State Senate took place in 2024. The general election was on November 5, 2024. The primary was June 4, 2024. The filing deadline was March 15, 2024.

In the 2024 elections, Republicans increased their majority in the Iowa State Senate from 33-16 with one vacancy to 34-15 with one vacancy.

Iowa State Senate
Party As of November 5, 2024 After November 6, 2024
     Democratic Party 16 16
     Republican Party 33 34
Total 50 50

2022

See also: Iowa State Senate elections, 2022

Elections for the Iowa State Senate took place in 2022. The general election was on November 8, 2022. A primary was scheduled for June 7, 2022. The filing deadline was March 18, 2022.

In the 2022 elections, Republicans increased their majority in the Iowa State Senate from 32-18 to 34-16.


Iowa State Senate
Party As of November 8, 2022 After November 9, 2022
     Democratic Party 18 16
     Republican Party 32 34
Total 50 50

2020

See also: Iowa State Senate elections, 2020

Elections for the office of Iowa State Senate took place in 2020. The general election was held on November 3, 2020. A primary was scheduled for June 2, 2020. The filing deadline was March 13, 2020.

In the 2020 elections, Republicans retained their 32-18 majority in the Iowa State Senate.


Iowa State Senate
Party As of November 3, 2020 After November 4, 2020
     Democratic Party 18 18
     Republican Party 32 32
Total 50 50

2018

See also: Iowa State Senate elections, 2018

Elections for the Iowa State Senate took place in 2018. A closed primary election took place on June 5, 2018. The general election was held on November 6, 2018. The candidate filing deadline was March 16, 2018.

In the 2018 elections, Republicans increased their majority in the Iowa State Senate from 29-20 to 32-18.

Iowa State Senate
Party As of November 6, 2018 After November 7, 2018
     Democratic Party 20 18
     Republican Party 29 32
     Independent 1 0
Total 50 50

2016

See also: Iowa State Senate elections, 2016

Elections for the Iowa State Senate were held 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. A total of 25 seats out of the 50 seats in the Iowa State Senate were up for election in 2016.

Republicans won control of the Iowa State Senate, securing a GOP trifecta in the state. Democrats held a three-seat majority in the chamber prior to the election.[1] Republicans picked up six seats, giving them a nine-seat majority.

Iowa State Senate
Party As of November 7, 2016 After November 8, 2016
     Democratic Party 25 20
     Republican Party 23 29
     Independent 1 1
     Vacancy 1 0
Total 50 50


Historical party control

Republicans won control of the Iowa State Senate in 2016. In 2024, they won a 34-16 majority.

The table below shows the partisan history of the Iowa Senate following every general election from 1992 to 2024. All data from 2006 or earlier comes from Michael Dubin's Party Affiliations in the State Legislatures (McFarland Press, 2007). Data after 2006 was compiled by Ballotpedia staff.

Iowa State Senate election results: 1992-2024

Year '92 '94 '96 '98 '00 '02 '04 '06 '08 '10 '12 '14 '16 '18 '20 '22 '24
Democrats 26 27 21 20 20 21 25* 30 32 27 26 26 20 18 18 16 15
Republicans 24 23 29 30 30 29 25* 20 18 23 23 24 29 31 32 34 35
*The parties entered into a power-sharing agreement to accommodate the evenly-divided chamber.

Before 1992

The Iowa State Senate switched partisan control 10 times from 1900 to 2022.


Trifecta history

A state government trifecta is a term that describes single party government, when one political party holds the governor's office and has majorities in both chambers of the legislature in a state government. Between 1992 and 2023, Iowa was under the following types of trifecta control:

  • Democratic trifecta: 2007-2010
  • Republican trifecta: 1997-1998, 2017-2023
  • Divided government: 1992-1996, 1999-2006, 2011-2016

Iowa Party Control: 1992-2025
Four years of Democratic trifectas  •  Eleven 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
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
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
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

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Attributes the one vacancy to the party that previously held the seat.
  2. ↑ Follow the Money, "Iowa Senate 2010 Campaign Contributions," accessed July 20, 2015
  3. ↑ Follow the Money, "Iowa 2008 Candidates," accessed August 23, 2013
  4. ↑ Follow the Money, "Iowa 2006 Candidates," accessed August 23, 2013
  5. ↑ Follow the Money, "Iowa 2004 Candidates," accessed August 23, 2013
  6. ↑ Follow the Money, "Iowa 2002 Candidates," accessed August 23, 2013
  7. ↑ Follow the Money, "Iowa 2000 Candidates," accessed August 23, 2013
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