Iowa school board elections, 2026

Elections

State profile

Additional elections

Statistics

No Iowa school districts that overlap with the nation's 100 largest cities or that are among the nation's 200 largest school districts and for which Ballotpedia provides comprehensive coverage are holding school board elections in 2026.

Expanded school board election coverage

In addition to any coverage listed above, the table below contains Ballotpedia's expanded school district coverage in Iowa in 2026.

2026 Iowa Expanded School Board Election Coverage

District	2023 - 2024 Enrollment
Atlantic Community School District	1,642

Recalls

See also: Recall campaigns in Iowa and School board recalls

Iowa does not allow for the recall of school board members. Click here for a list of states that do.

State profile

Demographic data for Iowa
	Iowa	U.S.
Total population:	3,121,997	316,515,021
Land area (sq mi):	55,857	3,531,905
Race and ethnicity**
White:	91.2%	73.6%
Black/African American:	3.2%	12.6%
Asian:	2%	5.1%
Native American:	0.3%	0.8%
Pacific Islander:	0.1%	0.2%
Two or more:	2%	3%
Hispanic/Latino:	5.4%	17.1%
Education
High school graduation rate:	91.5%	86.7%
College graduation rate:	26.7%	29.8%
Income
Median household income:	$53,183	$53,889
Persons below poverty level:	13.8%	11.3%
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2010-2015) Click here for more information on the 2020 census and here for more on its impact on the redistricting process in Iowa. **Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.

Presidential voting pattern

See also: Presidential voting trends in Iowa

Iowa voted for the Republican candidate in four out of the seven presidential elections between 2000 and 2024.

Pivot Counties (2016)

Ballotpedia identified 206 counties that voted for Donald Trump (R) in 2016 after voting for Barack Obama (D) in 2008 and 2012. Collectively, Trump won these Pivot Counties by more than 580,000 votes. Of these 206 counties, 31 are located in Iowa, accounting for 15.04 percent of the total pivot counties.

Pivot Counties (2020)

In 2020, Ballotpedia re-examined the 206 Pivot Counties to view their voting patterns following that year's presidential election. Ballotpedia defined those won by Trump won as Retained Pivot Counties and those won by Joe Biden (D) as Boomerang Pivot Counties. Nationwide, there were 181 Retained Pivot Counties and 25 Boomerang Pivot Counties. Iowa had 31 Retained Pivot Counties, 17.13 percent of all Retained Pivot Counties.

More Iowa coverage on Ballotpedia

• Elections in Iowa
• United States congressional delegations from Iowa
• Public policy in Iowa
• Endorsers in Iowa
• Iowa fact checks
• More...

See also: Iowa elections, 2026

What's on your ballot?

Click here to find out!

Candidates

The following charts show the total number of school board races and candidates covered by Ballotpedia each year since 2023. The figures in this section include all school board elections covered by Ballotpedia, including both core local coverage of the largest school districts as well as any expanded coverage of smaller districts. Click here to learn more about Ballotpedia's election coverage scope.

Analysis

See also: School board election data analysis, 2025

The following analysis includes school districts that overlap with the nation's 100 largest cities or that are among the nation's 200 largest school districts and for which Ballotpedia provides comprehensive coverage.

Of those districts, one Iowa school district held elections for four seats in 2025. Below are some statistics about what happened in those elections. To read the full report on school board election analysis across the country in 2025, click here.

• 5 candidates ran for election, an average of 1.3 candidates per seat.
• 50% of school board incumbents ran for re-election, leaving 50% of the seats open for newcomers.
• 100% of incumbents were elected to new seats, winning 50% of the seats up for election.
• Non-incumbent candidates won 2 of the seats.
• 50% of seats up for election were unopposed.

See also

Iowa	School Boards	News and Analysis
Public education in Iowa List of school districts in Iowa School board elections in Iowa School board authority in Iowa	School board elections, 2026 School board elections, 2025 Iowa school board elections, 2025	Ballotpedia's school board candidate survey School board election data analysis, 2025

Footnotes

School districts in the United States

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Elections

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School board recalls

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Analysis

2025 • 2024 • 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020

Lists

Largest school districts in the United States by enrollment • List of school districts in the United States • Glossary of education terms • Analysis of spending in America's largest school districts • United States school shootings, 1990-present • School board salaries in America's largest school districts

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