In 2025, Iowa held elections for municipal governments, school boards, and to fill vacancies for various offices, including theIowa General Assembly.[1]
Under Iowa law, if a vacancy arises during theIowa General Assembly's legislative session, theGovernor of Iowa is required to call an election at the "earliest practical time" with at least eighteen days' notice.[2]
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Iowa Senate District 35 | |||||||||||||||||
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| Turnout | 21.3% | ||||||||||||||||
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 Results by county Results by precinctZimmer: 40–50% 50–60% Whittington: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% | |||||||||||||||||
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Incumbent Republican senatorChris Cournoyer was re-elected state senator in 2022 with 60.0 percent of the vote. She vacated the seat being appointedlieutenant governor in December 2024.[3] Subsequently, a special election was held in theU.S. state ofIowa on January 28, 2025 to elect a new member for District 35 in theIowa Senate, representing the counties ofClinton,Jackson, andScott. Democratic candidateMike Zimmer achieved an upset victory, flipping a district won by Republican nomineeDonald Trump by 21 points in the2024 presidential election.[4][5][6][7]
The following candidates were certified for the ballot:[8]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
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| Democratic | Mike Zimmer | 4,812 | 51.71% | +12.75 | |
| Republican | Katie Whittington | 4,474 | 48.08% | –11.68 | |
| Write-in | 19 | 0.20% | +0.16 | ||
| Total votes | 9,305 | 100.00% | |||
| Democraticgain fromRepublican | |||||
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Iowa House of Representatives District 100 | |||||||||||||||||
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| Turnout | 27.0% | ||||||||||||||||
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Prior to his death, District 100 was represented byMartin Graber followingredistricting in 2023. The last election he won was in2024, when he defeated independent candidate Nicolas Atwood with 67.6% of the vote. Lee County is one of many "pivot counties", counties which twice voted forBarack Obama in2008 and2012, and subsequently swung toDonald Trump in2016.[9] Lee County has sincevoted again for Trump in2020 and2024. Subsequently, a special election was held in theU.S. state ofIowa on March 11, 2025 to elect a new member for District 100 in theIowa House of Representatives, representing a large portion ofLee County. The election will fill a vacancy caused by the death of Republican memberMartin Graber, who unexpectedly died on January 31, 2025.[10]
The parties nominated their candidates by convention. The Republican convention choseBlaine Watkins, a legislative aide.[11] Watkins won with more than 70% of the vote at the Republican meeting.[12] Other candidates at the convention included Daniel Atwood, a platoon leader in theIowa National Guard, Tracy Gach, a high school teacher and businessman, and Larry Kruse, a former Lee County supervisor.[13]
The Democratic convention selected Nannette Griffin, a businesswoman and nominee for the50th Senate District in2024.[14]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
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| Republican | Blaine Watkins | 2,749 | 51.52 | −16.09 | |
| Democratic | Nannette Griffin | 2,574 | 48.24 | +48.24 | |
| Write-in | 13 | 0.24 | -0.09 | ||
| Total votes | 5,336 | 100.00 | |||
| Republicanhold | Swing | -16.09 | |||
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Iowa House of Representatives District 78 | ||||||||||||||||
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| Turnout | 17.4% | |||||||||||||||
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 Precinct results Ramirez: 60–70% 70–80% 80–90% | ||||||||||||||||
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Aspecial election in theU.S. state ofIowa was held on April 29, 2025, to elect a new member to theIowa House of Representatives to represent District 78. The special election was called after the resignation of Democratic incumbentSami Scheetz following his appointment to theLinn County Board of Supervisors. District 78 is located entirely within Linn County, representing a portion ofCedar Rapids.
On April 8, 2025, governorKim Reynolds issued thewrits of election, scheduling the special election for April 29. Candidates had until April 15 to file for election. No primaries are held for state legislative special elections in Iowa, so political parties must nominate candidates by convention. Independent candidates may petition to be placed on the ballot by collecting signatures.
Results before the 2020 redistricting cycle are not included as the current 78th district does not contain any of the old 78th district.
| Year | Democrats | Republicans | Other | Mgn. | Ref. | |||||
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| 2024 pres. | Kamala Harris | 9,577 | 65.20% | Donald Trump | 4,798 | 32.67% | 313 | 2.13% | D+32.53 | [16] |
| 2024 | Sami Scheetz (i) | 10,803 | 96.73% | 365 | 3.27% | D+93.46 | [17] | |||
| 2022 | Sami Scheetz | 7,239 | 67.46% | Anne Fairchild | 3,466 | 32.30% | 26 | 0.24% | D+35.16 | |
Decision Desk HQ called the election for DemocratAngel Ramirez after all precincts reported.[20]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
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| Democratic | Angel Ramirez | 2,742 | 79.07% | –17.66 | |
| Republican | Bernie Hayes | 721 | 20.75% | New | |
| Write-in | 6 | 0.17% | −1.96 | ||
| Total votes | 3,474 | 100.00 | |||
| Democratichold | Swing | –17.69 | |||
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Iowa Senate District 1 | ||||||||||||||||
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| Turnout | 24.0% | |||||||||||||||
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 Precinct results Drey: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% Prosch: 50–60% 70–80% | ||||||||||||||||
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Rocky De Witt, the Republican incumbent senator fromIowa's 1st Senate district died of pancreatic cancer on June 25, 2025.[22] The election took place on August 26, 2025.[23] The Democratic Party nominated Catelin Drey.[24] The Republican Party nominated Christopher Prosch.[25] Drey won the election by 10 points, flipping the seat and ending the Republicans' supermajority in theIowa Senate.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
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| Democratic | Catelin Drey | 4,212 | 55.21% | +10.48 | |
| Republican | Christopher Prosch | 3,412 | 44.72% | –10.33 | |
| Write-in | 5 | 0.07% | –0.15 | ||
| Total votes | 7,629 | 100.00 | |||
| Democraticgain fromRepublican | |||||
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Iowa House of Representatives District 7 | ||||||||||||||||
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| Turnout | 18.9% | |||||||||||||||
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Mike Sexton, the Republican incumbent senator fromIowa's 7th House of Representatives district resigned September 19, 2025, after being appointed Iowa state director forUSDA Rural Development.[27] The election took place on December 9, 2025. The Democratic Party nominated Rachel Burns. The Republican Party nominatedWendy Larson.[28] Larson won the election by 40 points, less than 51 point margin by Republican nomineeDonald Trump in the2024 presidential election.[29]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
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| Republican | Wendy Larson | 2,818 | 70.03% | –13.40 | |
| Democratic | Rachel Burns | 1,201 | 29.85% | New | |
| Write-in | 5 | 0.12% | –0.31 | ||
| Total votes | 4,023 | 100.00 | |||
| Republicanhold | |||||
| County | Wendy Larson | Rachel Burns | Write-In | Margin | Total votes cast | ||||
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| # | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | ||
| Calhoun | 786 | 69.25% | 344 | 30.31% | 5 | 0.44% | 442 | 38.94% | 1,135 |
| Pocahontas | 543 | 70.89% | 223 | 29.11% | 0 | 0.00% | 320 | 41.78% | 766 |
| Sac | 1,224 | 72.00% | 476 | 28.00% | 0 | 0.00% | 748 | 44.00% | 1,700 |
| Webster | 265 | 62.65% | 158 | 37.35% | 0 | 0.00% | 107 | 25.30% | 423 |
| Totals | 2,818 | 70.03% | 1,201 | 29.85% | 5 | 0.12% | 1,617 | 40.18% | 4,024 |
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Iowa Senate District 16 | |||||||||||||||||
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Incumbent Democratic senatorClaire Celsi was re-elected state senator in 2024 with 69.5 percent of the vote. She died on October 6, 2025. Subsequently, a special election will be held on December 30, 2025 to elect a new member for District 35 in theIowa Senate, representing part ofDallas andPolk counties. Democrats nominated Renee Hardman while Republicans nominated Lucas Lifton. Hardman won the election by 43 points, more than 17 point margin by Democratic nomineeKamala Harris in the2024 presidential election.[31]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
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| Democratic | Renee Hardman | 7,341 | 71.40% | +1.94% | |
| Republican | Lucas Lifton | 2,930 | 28.50% | New | |
| Write-in | 11 | 0.11% | –0.84 | ||
| Total votes | 10,282 | 100.00% | |||
| Democratichold | |||||
| County | Renee Hardman | Lucas Lifton | Write-In | Margin | Total votes cast | ||||
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| # | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | ||
| Dallas | 114 | 67.46% | 55 | 32.54% | 0 | 0.00% | 59 | 28.52% | 169 |
| Polk | 7,227 | 71.46% | 2,875 | 28.43% | 11 | 0.11% | 4,352 | 43.03% | 10,113 |
| Totals | 7,341 | 71.40% | 2,930 | 28.50% | 11 | 0.11% | 4,411 | 42.90% | 10,282 |
The filing period for municipal offices is August 11, 2025, to August 28, 2025 for cities with primary elections. Such primary elections will be held October 7, 2025. All other cities and school boards have a filing period of August 25, 2025, to September 18, 2025. The regularly scheduled election will be November 4, 2025. In the event a municipal election requires a runoff, the runoff will be held on December 2, 2025.[1]
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