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Dave Dawson
Dave Dawson (Democratic Party) is running for election to the U.S. House to represent Iowa's 4th Congressional District. He declared candidacy for the 2026 election.[source]
Dawson completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2025. Click here to read the survey answers.
Elections
2026
See also: Iowa's 4th Congressional District election, 2026
General election
The general election will occur on November 3, 2026.
General election for U.S. House Iowa District 4
The following candidates are running in the general election for U.S. House Iowa District 4 on November 3, 2026.
Candidate | ||
 | Randy Feenstra (R) | |
 | Dave Dawson (D)  | |
 | Stephanie Steiner (D) | |
 | Ashley WolfTornabane (D) | |
| Chris McGowan (R) | ||
| Ryan Rhodes (R) | ||
| Christian Schlaefer (R) | ||
 | Matt Windschitl (R) | |
| Jermaine Decker (Independent) | ||
| ||||
| = 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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Ryan Melton (D)
- Kyle Larsen (R)
Endorsements
Ballotpedia is gathering information about candidate endorsements. To send us an endorsement, click here.
2018
- See also: Iowa State Senate elections, 2018
General election
General election for Iowa State Senate District 3
Incumbent Jim Carlin defeated Dave Dawson in the general election for Iowa State Senate District 3 on November 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Jim Carlin (R) | 64.7 | 16,366 |
| Dave Dawson (D) | 35.1 | 8,884 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.1 | 34 | ||
| Total votes: 25,284 | |||
| = 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 State Senate District 3
Dave Dawson advanced from the Democratic primary for Iowa State Senate District 3 on June 5, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Dave Dawson | 100.0 | 1,794 |
| Total votes: 1,794 | |||
| = 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 State Senate District 3
Incumbent Jim Carlin advanced from the Republican primary for Iowa State Senate District 3 on June 5, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Jim Carlin | 100.0 | 2,890 |
| Total votes: 2,890 | |||
| = 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. | ||||
Campaign themes
2026
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Dave Dawson completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2025. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Dawson's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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I grew up in Washta and graduated from the last class of Willow Community High School. During summers while in college, I worked at my parents’ agricultural business. I earned my undergraduate degree at Iowa State University. After receiving my law degree, I worked at a law firm in Chicago for three years. I current live in Lawton and have lived in Woodbury County for the past twenty-three years. I have been a public servant for the citizens of Iowa for 18 years, working as prosecutor for Woodbury County, where I specialize in cases involving child abuse. I have been an active member of my community. I was a former coach at Sioux City West High School and previously served as a church elder. I have been a union member with AFSCME for over twenty years. I have served on several non-profit boards, including serving as legal counsel for the Community Action Agency of Siouxland, which oversees local programs for Head Start and Early Head Start.
In 2012 and 2014, I was elected to the Iowa House of Representatives, where I earned a reputation as someone who worked across party lines to achieve positive outcomes for my constituents. In 2016, I received the Gold Star Award from Iowa State Sheriffs’ and Deputies’ Association for leadership in the legislature on law enforcement and public safety issues.- I will work to expand health care options and research. I will fight to lower prescription drug costs, expand rural healthcare access, and invest in medical research that saves lives. I will work to keep rural hospitals and nursing homes open and ensure mental health services are available close to home.
- I will invest in rural communities. I will work to expand broadband, repair roads and bridges, strengthen family farms, make housing more affordable, and support small businesses, all to keep our communities strong. When farmers do well, the whole community does well.
- I will work to raise incomes and increase competition. I will push for policies that raise wages, support working families, and crack down on corporate monopolies that hurt farmers and small business owners. I believe in an economy where hard work pays off.
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
See also
2026 Elections
External links
Footnotes
