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Iowa state legislative special elections, 2025

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As of October, six special elections have been called to fill vacant seats in the Iowa General Assembly. One of those special elections resulted in a Democratic candidate winning a Republican-held seat.

Click here to read more about the special elections.

Senate special elections called:

House special elections called:

Ballotpedia covered the special election in Senate District 1 as a battleground election. For more coverage on the election in District 1, click here.

In 2024, all 100 seats in the Iowa House of Representatives and 25 seats in the Iowa Senate were up for election. As a result of the 2024 general elections, Republicans increased their majority in both chambers. The Republican majority in the House increased from 64-36 to 67-33, and the Republican majority in the Senate increased from 33-16 with one vacancy to 34-16 with one vacancy.

Since the 2024 general elections resulted in a two-thirds majority in both chambers, the Iowa Legislature is one of 28 state legislatures where one party had a supermajority in both chambers. According to the Des Moines Register’s Stephen Gruber-Miller, this is the largest Republican majority in both chambers since 1970.[1]

Iowa is also one of 23 states with a Republican trifecta. Republicans gained a trifecta in the state after gaining control of the Senate following the 2016 general elections.

How vacancies are filled in Iowa


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 (or IGA) is the state legislature of Iowa. It is a bicameral legislature composed of an upper house, the Iowa State Senate, and a lower house, the Iowa House of Representatives.

The boxes below show the partisan composition of both chambers directly before and after the most recent general elections prior to 2025. 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 5, 2024 After November 6, 2024
     Democratic Party 16 16
     Republican Party 33 34
Total 50 50


Iowa House of Representatives
Party As of November 5, 2024 After November 6, 2024
     Democratic Party 36 33
     Republican Party 64 66
     Vacancy 0 1
Total 100 100

Special elections

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

January 28, 2025


Mike Zimmer (D) defeated Katie Whittington (R) in the Iowa Senate District 35 special election on Jan. 28, 2025. The seat became vacant after Gov. Kim Reynolds (R) appointed Sen. Chris Cournoyer (R) to serve as lieutenant governor.

According to the Secretary of State’s office, Republicans had an edge regarding party registration. At the time of the election, 12,246 registered Democrats lived in the district, 15,598 Republicans, and 372 minor party voters. Additionally, 19,390 voters were registered as having no party affiliation.[5]

In the 2024 presidential and congressional elections, President Donald Trump (R) won the district by 21 points, and U.S. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R) won by nine points.[6] In 2022, Cournoyer won a second four-year term in the district with 61% of the vote.[6] Before Cournoyer won her first term in 2018, Rita Hart (D) represented the district for two terms.

According to Iowa Starting Line’s Zachary Oren Smith, the “campaigns [had] less than a month to organize. And special elections tend to have low turnout since they occur outside the normal November election period. The condensed, off-calendar timing makes the special election unpredictable.”[6]

Zimmer was elected in 2023 to serve as school board president in the Central DeWitt Community School District.[7] Before then, he worked in education for 40 years in multiple roles, including as a teacher and high school principal.[7] Zimmer also owned and operated a construction business.[7]

Zimmer said, “I’m running for the State Senate to bring bold, people-first solutions to the Statehouse—solutions that ensure our public schools are stronger, wages are better, and working families have the stability and tools to thrive in today’s economy.”[7]

Whittington said she has held multiple jobs in her professional history, including working as an administrative assistant.[7][8] She also said she isinvolved in the community, “sitting on many boards to helping the children of our area.”[7]

Whittington said, “As a mom and advocate for common sense, I believe I can work to find solutions to the issues challenging Eastern Iowa. I am new to the political world, so I know there [are] many things I need to learn, but one thing voters can count on from me is to listen, learn, and represent our communities in the Iowa Senate.”[7]

March 11, 2025

April 29, 2025

August 26, 2025

December 9, 2025

December 30, 2025

Historical data

There were 1,007 state legislative special elections that took place from 2010 to 2024. Iowa held 26 special elections during the same time period. The largest number of special elections in Iowa took place in 2015, 2017, and 2021 when four special elections were held each year.

The table below details how many state legislative special elections were held in a state in a given year.

Special elections throughout the country

See also: State legislative special elections, 2025

As of October 2025, 92 state legislative special elections have been scheduled for 2025 in 22 states. One special election has also been called to fill a vacancy in the Puerto Rico House of Representatives. Between 2011 and 2024, an average of 70 special elections took place each year.

Breakdown of 2025 special elections

In 2025, special elections for state legislative positions are being held for the following reasons:

  • 38 due to appointment, election, or the seeking of election to another position
  • 25 due to resignation
  • 14 due to redistricting
  • 14 due to the death of the incumbent
  • 1 due to the officeholder leaving at term end


Impact of special elections on partisan composition

The partisan breakdown for the special elections is as follows:


As of October 16th, 2025, Republicans controlled 55.4% of all state legislative seats nationally, while Democrats held 43.64%. Republicans held a majority in 57 chambers, and Democrats held the majority in 39 chambers. Two chambers (Alaska House and Alaska Senate) were organized under multipartisan, power-sharing coalitions. One chamber (Minnesota House of Representatives) was split evenly between both parties.

Partisan balance of all 7,386 state legislative seats
Legislative chamber Democratic Party Republican Party Grey.png Other Vacant
State senates 831 1,120 5 17
State houses 2,392 2,972 20 29
Total: 3,223

4,092

25

46


The table below details how many seats changed parties as the result of a special election in 2025. 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.

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

Partisan Change from Special Elections (2025)
Party As of Special Election After Special Election
     Democratic Party 50 26
     Republican Party 42 21
     Independent 0 1
Total 92 48

Flipped seats

In 2025, as of August 26, four seats have changed party hands as a result of state legislative special elections.


Seats that changed from D to I

Seats that changed from R to D



See also

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Des Moines Register, "Republicans expand majorities in Iowa Legislature to historic levels after strong election," November 7, 2024
  2. ↑ Iowa General Assembly, "Iowa Code - 2021," accessed February 9, 2021 (Statute 69.14)
  3. ↑ The Gazette, "Capitol Notebook: Governor sets date for Iowa Senate District 35 special election," December 23, 2024
  4. ↑ Iowa Capital Dispatch, "Sen. Chris Cournoyer appointed Iowa lieutenant governor," December 16, 2024
  5. ↑ Iowa Secretary of State, "State of Iowa Voter Registration Totals - State Senate District," January 2, 2025
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Iowa Starting Line, "Clinton County Republican gets help from former US Rep. Steve King in special election," January 16, 2025
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 7.6 Clinton Herald, "Iowa Senate District 35 candidates interview," January 15, 2025
  8. ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on January 6, 2025
  9. ↑ Iowa Secretary of State, "Candidate’s Guide to the Special Election, State Representative District 100," accessed February 12, 2025
  10. ↑ WHO 13, "Iowa Representative Martin Graber dies at age 72," January 31, 2025
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 The Gazette, "Special election slated to fill Iowa House District 78 seat," April 8, 2025
  12. ↑ Iowa Secretary of State, "State Senate District 1 Special Election," accessed July 1, 2025
  13. ↑ KCCI, "Iowa state Sen. Rocky De Witt dies after cancer battle," June 25, 2025
  14. ↑ Iowa Secretary of State, "State Representative District 7 Special Election," accessed September 29, 2025
  15. ↑ Iowa - Governor Kim Reynolds, "Gov. Reynolds sets date for Iowa House District 7 special election," September 24, 2025
  16. ↑ Iowa Secretary of State, "State Senate District 16 Special Election," accessed October 15, 2025
  17. ↑ Des Moines Register, "Iowa Sen. Claire Celsi, remembered as 'an absolute force,' dies at 59," October 6, 2025
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