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Iowa state legislative special elections, 2019

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In 2019, two special elections were called to fill vacant seats in the Iowa General Assembly. Click here to read more about the special elections.

Senate special elections called:

House special elections called:

One race Ballotpedia watched closely this year was the District 30 election in the Iowa State Senate. To learn more, click here.

Cedar Falls School Board member Eric Giddens (D) defeated former state Rep. Walt Rogers (R) in a special election on March 19, 2019, for the District 30 seat in the Iowa State Senate. Giddens received 57 percent of the vote, while Rogers received 42 percent of the vote. The seat became vacant after Jeff Danielson (D) resigned on February 14, 2019. In the announcement of his resignation, Danielson said, "I’m closing two wonderful chapters in my life, 25 years as a firefighter and 15 years as a state senator, and I’m opening a new exciting chapter for which we’ll be able to share at a later date.”[1] Candidates in this race were chosen by party conventions rather than through primary elections.

The appearance of current and potential 2020 Democratic presidential candidates in the district helped this race garner national attention. To read more about the involvement of national politicians, click here. The district voted Democratic in the past two presidential elections. In 2012, Obama won the district by 7.4 percent. In 2016, Clinton won the district by 3.5 percent.

Heading into the election, Republicans held a 32-17 majority in the Iowa State Senate. A party needs 34 votes in the Senate in order to override a gubernatorial veto, so the outcome of this election did not impact either partisan control or vetoproof supermajority status.

How vacancies are filled in Iowa

See also: How vacancies are filled in state legislatures


If there is a vacancy in the Iowa General Assembly, the vacant seat must be filled by a special election. The governor of Iowa is required within five days of a vacancy in the General Assembly to call for a special election. If the vacancy happens in session or within 45 days of the session convening, the governor must call for an election as soon as possible with at least an 18-day notice. All other special elections require a 40-day notice as long the election does not happen on the same day as a school election within the district.[2]

DocumentIcon.jpg See sources: Iowa Code § 69.14


About the legislature

The Iowa General Assembly consists of the lower House of Representatives and the upper State Senate. The boxes below show the partisan composition of both chambers directly before and after the November 2018 general election. For the most up-to-date numbers on partisan composition in this legislature, see here (Senate) and here (House).

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
Iowa House of Representatives
Party As of November 6, 2018 After November 7, 2018
     Democratic Party 41 46
     Republican Party 58 54
     Vacancy 1 0
Total 100 100

Special elections

Click [show] to the right of the district name for more information:

March 19, 2019

August 6, 2019

Special elections throughout the country

See also: State legislative special elections, 2019

In 2019, 77 state legislative special elections were held in 24 states. Between 2011 and 2018, an average of 77 special elections took place each year.

Breakdown of 2019 special elections

In 2019, special elections for state legislative positions were held for the following reasons:

  • 47 due to appointment, election, or the seeking of election to another position
  • 21 due to a retirement
  • 6 due to the death of the incumbent
  • 1 due to a resignation related to criminal charges
  • 2 due to an election being rerun

Impact of special elections on partisan composition

The partisan breakdown for the special elections was as follows:

The table below details how many seats changed parties as the result of a special election in 2019. The number on the left reflects how many vacant seats were originally held by each party, while the number on the right shows how many vacant seats each party won in the special elections. In elections between 2011 and 2018, either the Democratic Party or Republican Party saw an average net gain of four seats across the country. Between 2017 and 2018, Democrats had a net gain of 19 seats.

Note: This table reflects information for elections that were held and not the total number of vacant seats.

Partisan Change from Special Elections (2019)
Party As of Special Election After Special Election
     Democratic Party 39 36
     Republican Party 38 40
     Independent 0 1
Total 77 77

Flipped seats

In 2019, eight seats flipped as a result of state legislative special elections.

Seats flipped from D to R

Seats flipped from R to D

Seats flipped from R to I

State profile

See also: Iowa and Iowa elections, 2019
USA Iowa location map.svg

Partisan data

The information in this section was current as of May 7, 2019

Presidential voting pattern

Congressional delegation

State executives

  • Democrats held three and Republicans held four of Iowa's 14 state executive offices. Elections for the other offices are nonpartisan.
  • Iowa's governor was Republican Kim Reynolds.

State legislature

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

Iowa quick stats
More Iowa coverage on Ballotpedia:


Demographic data for Iowa
 IowaU.S.
Total population:3,121,997316,515,021
Land area (sq mi):55,8573,531,905
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.

See also

Footnotes

  1. ↑ The Courier, "Sen. Jeff Danielson resigns for new, undisclosed job," February 16, 2019
  2. ↑ Iowa General Assembly, "Iowa Code - 2021," accessed February 9, 2021 (Statute 69.14)
  3. ↑ The Courier, "Sen. Jeff Danielson resigns for new, undisclosed job," February 16, 2019
  4. ↑ Caffeinated Thoughts, "Special Election to Replace Heddens in Iowa House District 46 Set," June 21, 2019
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