Ballotpedia's 2012 General Election Preview Articles: Iowa State Legislature
November 1, 2012
By Ballotpedia's State legislative team
| Iowa's State Legislative Elections in 2012 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Senate seats | Contested senate seats | House seats | Contested house seats |
| 26 | 21 (80.8%) | 100 | 65 (65.0%) |
DES MOINES: Iowa: There are 126 total legislative seats with 2012 elections in Iowa, where polling places are open from 7:00 AM to 9:00 PM Central Time.[1]
The State Senate is currently under Democratic control, 26 to 24. With 4 incumbents retiring for a total of eight open seats, the Iowa Senate is regarded as one of the state legislatures most likely to flip. The 100-seat house is 59-40 in favor of the Republicans, with one seat currently vacant. Of the 17 retiring incumbents, 14 are Republican.
Of the 125 incumbents up for election in 2012, 100 (80.0%) of them are running for re-election. A total of 86 of 126 (68.2%) districts will see more than one major party candidate in the general election.
Here are a few races to watch:
Senate
- District 4: Democrat Bob Jennings and Republican Dennis Guth have been in a tight race for the newly created 4th District. They have disagreed sharply primarily over social issues, with Guth going so far as to state that the legalization of same-sex marriage in Iowa was the issue which drove him to seek public office. He supports an effort to unseat the Iowa Supreme Court Justice, David Wiggins, who cast a vote legalize.[2]
- District 26: Incumbent Mary Jo Wilhelm (D) will face incumbent Merlin Bartz (R).
House
- In District 13, incumbent Democrat Chris Hall will face current District 1 incumbent Republican Jeremy Taylor.
| Iowa State Senate | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Party | As of November 5, 2012 | After the 2012 Election | |
| Democratic Party | 26 | 26 | |
| Republican Party | 24 | 23 | |
| Vacancy | 0 | 1 | |
| Total | 50 | 50 | |
| Iowa House of Representatives | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Party | As of November 5, 2012 | After the 2012 Election | |
| Democratic Party | 40 | 47 | |
| Republican Party | 59 | 53 | |
| Vacancy | 1 | 0 | |
| Total | 100 | 100 | |
Articles
- 2012 elections preview: Iowa voters to select winners in congressional, state legislative primaries June 4
- 2012 Elections preview: Iowa House, Senate both see incumbents facing off March 29
See also
- Ballotpedia's 2012 General Election Preview Articles: Iowa Congressional Seats
- Ballotpedia:2012 general election preview articles
- State legislative elections, 2012
- November 6, 2012 election results
- Iowa elections, 2012
Footnotes
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