Iowa State Senate District 41
- Find your sample ballot
- Election calendar
- Iowa elections
- Voting in Iowa
- Presidential elections
- U.S. Congress elections
- State executive elections
- State legislative elections
- State court elections
- Statewide ballot measures
- Municipal elections
- Local court elections
- School board elections
- Local ballot measures
- Recall elections
Iowa State Senate District 41 is represented byKerry Gruenhagen (R).
As of the 2020 Census, Iowa state senators represented an average of63,848 residents. After the 2010 Census, each member represented61,076 residents.
About the chamber
Members of theIowa State Senate servefour-year terms and are not subject toterm limits. Half of the senate is up for re-election every two years. Iowa state senators assume office on the first day of January which is not a Sunday or legal holiday.[1][2]
Qualifications
TheIowa Constitution states, "Senators shall be chosen for the term of four years, at the same time and place as representatives; they shall be twenty-five years of age, and possess the qualifications of representatives as to residence and citizenship."[3]
Salaries
| State legislative salaries, 2024[4] | |
|---|---|
| Salary | Per diem |
| $25,000/year | $178/day for legislators who live outside of Polk County. $133.50/day for legislators who live within Polk County. |
Vacancies
If there is a vacancy in theIowa General Assembly, the vacant seat must be filled by a special election. Thegovernor of Iowa is required within five days of a vacancy in theGeneral 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.[5]
See sources:Iowa Code § 69.14
2016 pivot county
This district was one of 710 state legislative districts that, based on boundaries adopted after the 2010 census, intersected with one or morePivot Counties. These 206 Pivot Counties voted forDonald Trump (R) in 2016 after voting forBarack Obama (D) in 2008 and 2012.
The 206 Pivot Counties were located in 34 states. Iowa, with 31, had the most such counties. At that time, the partisan makeup ofstate legislative districts intersecting with Pivot Counties was slightly more Republican than theoverall partisan makeup of state legislatures throughout the country.[6]
District map
Redistricting
2020 redistricting cycle
On November 4, 2021, Iowa Gov.Kim Reynolds (R) signed new congressional and state legislative maps into law after the state's Legislative Services Agency had proposed them on October 21, 2021. The Iowa legislature approved the maps on October 28, 2021, by a vote of 48-1 in thestate Senate and 93-2 in thestate House.[7] The legislature could only vote to approve or reject the maps and could not make any amendments. These maps took effect for Iowa's 2022 congressional and legislative elections.
How does redistricting in Iowa work? The Legislative Services Agency prepares redistricting plans for approval by theIowa State Legislature. According toAll About Redistricting, the Legislative Services Agency (LSA) consists of "civil servants committed to nonpartisanship and otherwise charged with tasks like legal and fiscal analysis of state legislation and state government oversight." The LSA is assisted by a commission, which consists of the following members:[8]
- one member selected by the majority leader of theIowa State Senate
- one member selected by the majority leader of theIowa House of Representatives
- one member selected by the minority leader of theIowa State Senate
- one member selected by the minority leader of theIowa House of Representatives
- one member selected by the first four members
The members of this commission cannot "hold partisan public office or an office in a political party, and none may be a relative or employee of a federal or state legislator (or the legislature as a whole)."[8]
Working with this commission, the LSA drafts congressional and state legislative district lines. The maps are presented as a single bill to the state legislature, which may approve or reject the bill without altering it (the legislature can provide feedback). If the legislature rejects the plan, the LSA must draft a second proposal. If the legislature rejects the second proposal, the LSA must draft a third, and final, set of maps. If the legislature rejects this plan, it may then approve its own maps. Since the implementation of this process in 1980, the state legislature has never chosen not to approve an LSA proposal. Redistricting plans are also subject to gubernatorial veto. In addition, the legislature may repeal or revise the maps at any time, though it has never done so.[8]
State law establishes the following criteria for both congressional and state legislative districts:[8]
- Districts must be "convenient and contiguous."
- Districts must "preserve the integrity of political subdivisions like counties and cities."
- Districts must "to the extent consistent with other requirements, [be] reasonably compact–defined in terms of regular polygons, comparisons of length and width, and overall boundary perimeter."
In addition, state House districts are required to be contained within state Senate districts "where possible, and where not in conflict with the criteria above." It is explicit in state law that district lines cannot be drawn "to favor a political party, incumbent, or other person or group."[8]
Iowa State Senate District 41
until January 2, 2023
Click a district to compare boundaries.
Iowa State Senate District 41
starting January 3, 2023
Click a district to compare boundaries.
Elections
2022
- See also:Iowa State Senate elections, 2022
General election
General election for Iowa State Senate District 41
Kerry Gruenhagen defeatedDeb VanderGaast in the general election for Iowa State Senate District 41 on November 8, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Kerry Gruenhagen (R) | 58.1 | 13,179 |
 | Deb VanderGaast (D)  | 41.8 | 9,480 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.1 | 15 | ||
| There were noincumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source | Total votes: 22,674 | ||
| = candidate completed theBallotpedia 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 41
Deb VanderGaast defeatedNikole Tutton in the Democratic primary for Iowa State Senate District 41 on June 7, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Deb VanderGaast | 74.1 | 1,739 |
| Nikole Tutton | 25.8 | 606 | ||
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.1 | 2 | ||
| There were noincumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source | Total votes: 2,347 | ||
| = candidate completed theBallotpedia 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 41
Kerry Gruenhagen defeatedAlan Weets in the Republican primary for Iowa State Senate District 41 on June 7, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Kerry Gruenhagen | 59.0 | 2,068 |
| Alan Weets | 41.0 | 1,437 | ||
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.1 | 2 | ||
| There were noincumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source | Total votes: 3,507 | ||
| = candidate completed theBallotpedia 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. | ||||
2021
OnJanuary 26, 2021,Mary Stewart (D) andAdrian Dickey (R) faced off in a special election to fill the remaining two years of a four-year term inIowa State SenateDistrict 41. The seat became vacant afterMariannette Miller-Meeks (R) resigned effective January 2, 2021, in order to be seated provisionally in theU.S. House of Representatives.[9][10]
The Iowa Democratic and Republican Parties nominated Stewart and Dickey at special district conventions.[11][12] The independent and third-party candidate filing deadline was January 12.[13] No other candidates filed to run.[14]
Stewart, a community college administrator, described herself as an "educator, a community activist and a leader."[15] Dickey, president of a transportation company, said he was a "[f]ather of two, volunteer firefighter, business owner, and lifelong resident of Packwood."[16]
In2018, Miller-Meeks defeated Stewart 51.7% to 48.1% for the open seat. In2014, incumbentMark Chelgren (R) defeatedSteve Siegel (D) by a margin of 1.8 percentage points.
Miller-Meeks was certified as the winner of thegeneral election forIowa's 2nd Congressional District on November 30, 2020, after a recount showed her defeatingRita Hart (D) by six votes.
The 41st Districtintersects with tworetained pivot counties (counties that voted forBarack Obama (D) in 2008 and 2012 andDonald Trump (R) in2016 and2020):Jefferson County andWapello County.
General election
Special general election for Iowa State Senate District 41
Adrian Dickey defeatedMary Stewart in the special general election for Iowa State Senate District 41 on January 26, 2021.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Adrian Dickey (R) | 55.3 | 5,091 |
| Mary Stewart (D) | 44.7 | 4,111 | ||
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.0 | 4 | ||
| There were noincumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source | Total votes: 9,206 | ||
| = candidate completed theBallotpedia 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. | ||||
2018
- See also:Iowa State Senate elections, 2018
General election
General election for Iowa State Senate District 41
Mariannette Miller-Meeks defeatedMary Stewart in the general election for Iowa State Senate District 41 on November 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R) | 51.7 | 11,460 |
| Mary Stewart (D) | 48.1 | 10,652 | ||
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.2 | 36 | ||
| There were noincumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source | Total votes: 22,148 | ||
| = candidate completed theBallotpedia 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 41
Mary Stewart defeatedEd Malloy in the Democratic primary for Iowa State Senate District 41 on June 5, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Mary Stewart | 58.4 | 2,916 | |
 | Ed Malloy | 41.6 | 2,076 | |
| There were noincumbents in this race. The results have been certified. | Total votes: 4,992 | ||
| = candidate completed theBallotpedia 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 41
Mariannette Miller-Meeks defeatedDaniel Cesar in the Republican primary for Iowa State Senate District 41 on June 5, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Mariannette Miller-Meeks | 85.9 | 1,706 |
| Daniel Cesar | 14.1 | 279 | ||
| There were noincumbents in this race. The results have been certified. | Total votes: 1,985 | ||
| = candidate completed theBallotpedia 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. | ||||
2014
- See also:Iowa State Senate elections, 2014
Elections for theIowa State Senate took place in 2014. A primary election took place on June 3, 2014. The general election was held onNovember 4, 2014. Thesignature filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in this election was March 14, 2014.Steve Siegel defeatedTom Rubel in the Democratic primary, while incumbentMark Chelgren was unopposed in the Republican primary. Siegel faced Chelgren in the general election.[17][18] Incumbent Chelgren defeated challenger Siegel in the general election.[19]
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican |  Mark ChelgrenIncumbent | 50.8% | 10,356 | |
| Democratic | Steve Siegel | 49% | 9,982 | |
| Write-in | Write-in | 0.3% | 53 | |
| Total Votes | 20,391 | |||
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
|---|---|---|
| Steve Siegel | 69.8% | 2,044 |
| Tom Rubel | 30.2% | 883 |
| Total Votes | 2,927 | |
2010
- See also:Iowa State Senate elections, 2010
Elections for the office ofIowa State Senate consisted of a primary election on June 8, 2010, and a general election onNovember 2, 2010. The signature filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in this election was March 19, 2010.Roby Smith (R) defeatedRichard Clewell (D) in the general election and defeated incumbentDavid Hartsuch in the Republican primary. Clewell defeated Dave Thede in the Democratic primary.[20][21]
| Iowa State Senate, District 41, General Election, 2010 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican | Roby Smith | 59.5% | 13,865 | |
| Democratic | Richard Clewell | 40.5% | 9,432 | |
| Total Votes | 23,297 | |||
| Iowa State Senate, District 41 Democratic Primary, 2010 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
| Richard Clewell | 55.4% | 596 |
| Dave Thede | 44.6% | 479 |
| Total Votes | 1,075 | |
| Iowa State Senate, District 41 Republican Primary, 2010 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
| Roby Smith | 51.9% | 2,487 |
| David HartsuchIncumbent | 48.1% | 2,307 |
| Total Votes | 4,794 | |
Campaign contributions
From 2000 to 2022, candidates for Iowa State Senate District 41 raised a total of $2,127,193. Candidates who raised money in contributions earned $78,785 on average. All figures come fromFollow the Money
| Campaign contributions, Iowa State Senate District 41 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Amount | Candidates | Average |
| 2022 | $316,942 | 4 | $79,236 |
| 2021 | $292,961 | 2 | $146,480 |
| 2018 | $779,111 | 4 | $194,778 |
| 2014 | $385,725 | 3 | $128,575 |
| 2012 | $1,875 | 1 | $1,875 |
| 2010 | $120,269 | 4 | $30,067 |
| 2008 | $6,187 | 1 | $6,187 |
| 2006 | $139,025 | 3 | $46,342 |
| 2004 | $14,284 | 1 | $14,284 |
| 2002 | $68,114 | 3 | $22,705 |
| 2000 | $2,700 | 1 | $2,700 |
| Total | $2,127,193 | 27 | $78,785 |
See also
- Iowa State Legislature
- Iowa State Senate
- Iowa House of Representatives
- Iowa state legislative districts
External links
Footnotes
- ↑JUSTIA US Law, "Iowa Code, Section 39.8 - Term of office," accessed November 1, 2021
- ↑Iowa Secretary of State, "Terms of Offices for Elected Officials," accessed November 1, 2021
- ↑Iowa Constitution, "Article 3, Section 5," accessed May 21, 2025
- ↑National Conference of State Legislatures, "2024 Legislator Compensation," August 21, 2024
- ↑Iowa General Assembly, "Iowa Code - 2021," accessed February 9, 2021(Statute 69.14)
- ↑The raw data for this study was provided by Dave Leip ofAtlas of U.S. Presidential Elections.
- ↑Des Moines Register, "Iowa lawmakers accept second redistricting plan, setting up next decade of politics," October 28, 2021
- ↑8.08.18.28.38.4All About Redistricting, "Iowa," accessed April 21, 2015
- ↑KYOU News, "Mariannette Miller-Meeks submits her resignation from the Iowa Senate," December 30, 2020
- ↑KCCI Des Moines, "Miller-Meeks steps down from Iowa Senate, to be seated provisionally in U.S. House," December 30, 2020
- ↑Bleeding Heartland, "Adrian Dickey, Mary Stewart to face off in Iowa Senate district 41," January 7, 2021
- ↑Des Moines Register, "Adrian Dickey, Mary Stewart running to replace Mariannette Miller-Meeks in the Iowa Senate," January 24, 2021
- ↑Iowa Secretary of State, "State Senate District 41 - Special Election," accessed December 31, 2020
- ↑Iowa Secretary of State, "Candidate List," accessed January 24, 2021
- ↑Facebook, "Mary Stewart for Iowa Senate on January 5, 2021," accessed January 24, 2021
- ↑Facebook, "Adrian Dickey," accessed January 24, 2021
- ↑Iowa Secretary of State, "Official primary election candidate list," accessed March 18, 2014
- ↑Iowa Secretary of State, "Official primary election results," accessed June 30, 2014
- ↑Iowa Secretary of State, "Official general election results," accessed December 1, 2014
- ↑"2010 Iowa Primary Results," October 16, 2013
- ↑"Official Iowa State Senate November 2, 2010 Election Results," accessed October 16, 2013
