2012 Iowa Senate election

The 2012 Iowa State Senate elections took place as part of the biennial 2012 United States elections. Iowa voters elected state senators in 26 of the state senate's 50 districts—the 25 even-numbered state senate districts and the 49th district.^[2] State senators serve four-year terms in the Iowa State Senate, with half of the seats up for election each cycle. This was the first election cycle following the 2010 census and 2011 redistricting process.

Iowa State Senate elections, 2012

← 2010 November 6, 2012 2014 →
26 out of 50 seats in the Iowa State Senate 26 seats needed for a majority
Majority party Minority party   Leader Jack Kibbie Jerry Behn Party Democratic Republican Leader's seat 4th district (retired) 24th district Last election 26 24 Seats before 26 24 Seats after 26 24 Seat change
Results of the elections:      Democratic gain      Republican gain      Democratic hold      Republican hold      No election
President of the Senate before election Jack Kibbie Democratic Elected President of the Senate Pam Jochum[1] Democratic

As a result of redistricting, many state senators were redrawn into new seats. This explains some incumbents being reelected, but into districts with new numbers following the redistricting process.

The primary election on June 5, 2012, determined which candidates appeared on the November 6, 2012 general election ballot. Primary election results can be obtained here.^[3]

Following the previous 2010 Iowa Senate election, Democrats maintained control of the Iowa state Senate with 26 seats.

To reclaim control of the chamber from Democrats, the Republicans needed to net 2 Senate seats.

Democrats kept control of the Iowa State Senate following the 2012 general election as the chamber's partisan composition remained unchanged with 26 Democrats to 24 Republicans.

State Senator Pat Ward was running in district 22 when she died on October 15, 2012, less than a month before the general election.^[4] A special election on Dec. 11, 2012 saw her seat retained by the Republicans.^[5]

Summary of Results

• NOTE: Only even-numbered Iowa Senate seats were up for regularly scheduled election in 2012, so most of the odd-numbered seats are not included here. District 49 had a special election to fill a vacancy created by Senator Bacon's resignation.^[2]
• Also note, an asterisk (*) after a senator's name indicates they were an incumbent re-elected, but to a new district number due to redistricting.

State Senate District	Incumbent	Party		Elected Senator	Party
2nd	Randy Feenstra		Rep	Randy Feenstra		Republican
4th	Jack Kibbie		Dem	Dennis Guth		Republican
6th	Merlin Bartz		Rep	Mark Segebart		Republican
8th	Mary Jo Wilhelm		Dem	Michael E. Gronstal*[6]		Democratic
10th	Jeff Danielson		Dem	Jake Chapman		Republican
12th	Brian Schoenjahn		Dem	Joni Ernst*[7]		Republican
14th	Pam Jochum		Dem	Amy Sinclair		Republican
16th	Tom Hancock		Dem	Dick Dearden*[8]		Democratic
18th	Liz Mathis		Dem	Janet Petersen		Democratic
20th	Tim Kapucian		Rep	Brad Zaun*[9]		Republican
22nd	Steve Sodders		Dem	Charles Schneider[10]		Republican
24th	Jerry Behn		Rep	Jerry Behn		Republican
26th	Steve Kettering		Rep	Mary Jo Wilhelm*[11]		Democratic
28th	James A. Seymour		Rep	Michael Breitbach		Republican
30th	Pat Ward		Rep	Jeff Danielson*[12]		Democratic
32nd	Brad Zaun		Rep	Brian Schoenjahn*[13]		Democratic
34th	Dick Dearden		Dem	Liz Mathis*[14]		Democratic
36th	Paul McKinley		Rep	Steve Sodders*[15]		Democratic
38th	Tom Rielly		Dem	Tim Kapucian*[16]		Republican
40th	James F. Hahn		Rep	Ken Rozenboom		Republican
42nd	Shawn Hamerlinck		Rep	Rich Taylor		Democratic
44th	Thomas G. Courtney		Dem	Thomas G. Courtney		Democratic
46th	Gene Fraise		Dem	Chris Brase		Democratic
48th	Joni Ernst		Rep	Dan Zumbach		Republican
49th	Hubert Houser		Rep	Rita Hart		Democratic
50th	Michael Gronstal		Dem	Pam Jochum*[17]		Democratic

Source:^[18][19]

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
Governing[20]	Tossup	October 24, 2012

Detailed Results

District 2 • District 4 • District 6 • District 8 • District 10 • District 12 • District 14 • District 16 • District 18 • District 20 • District 22 • District 24 • District 26 • District 28 • District 30 • District 32 • District 34 • District 36 • District 38 • District 40 • District 42 • District 44 • District 46 • District 48 • District 49 • District 50

• Note: If a district does not list a primary, then that district did not have a competitive primary (i.e., there may have only been one candidate file for that district).

District 2

Iowa Senate, District 2 General Election, 2012

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Randy Feenstra (incumbent)	26,030	100.0
Total votes			26,030	100.0
	Republican hold

District 4

Iowa Senate, District 4 Republican Primary, 2012

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Dennis Guth	2,581	52.5
	Republican	James E. Black	2,333	47.5
Total votes			4,914	100.0

Iowa Senate, District 4 General Election, 2012

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Dennis Guth	16,033	52.9
	Democratic	Bob Jennings	14,299	47.1
Total votes			30,332	100.0
	Republican gain from Democratic

District 6

Iowa Senate, District 6 Republican Primary, 2012

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Mark Segebart	1,273	47.0
	Republican	Adam Schweers	1,082	40.0
	Republican	Matthew Biede	352	13.0
Total votes			2,707	100.0

Iowa Senate, District 6 General Election, 2012

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Mark Segebart	16,023	57.1
	Democratic	Mary C. Bruner	12,058	42.9
Total votes			28,081	100.0
	Republican hold

District 8

Iowa Senate, District 8 General Election, 2012

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Michael E. Gronstal (incumbent)[a]	12,632	55.3
	Republican	Al Ringgenberg	10,198	44.7
Total votes			22,830	100.0
	Democratic hold

District 10

Iowa Senate, District 10 Republican Primary, 2012

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Jake Chapman	1,800	65.5
	Republican	Matthew T. Mardesen	949	34.5
Total votes			2,749	100.0

Iowa Senate, District 10 General Election, 2012

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Jack Chapman	22,594	100.0
Total votes			22,594	100.0
	Republican gain from Democratic

District 12

Iowa Senate, District 12 General Election, 2012

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Joni Ernst (incumbent) [b]	22,205	100.0
Total votes			22,205	100.0
	Republican gain from Democratic

District 14

Iowa Senate, District 14 Republican Primary, 2012

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Amy Sinclair	2,652	66.1
	Republican	Steven Everly	1,116	27.8
	Republican	Stephanie Jones	247	6.1
Total votes			4,015	100.0

Iowa Senate, District 14 Democratic Primary, 2012

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Dick Schrad	775	67.4
	Democratic	Jason Demichelis	375	32.6
Total votes			1,150	100.0

Iowa Senate, District 14 General Election, 2012

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Amy Sinclair	17,141	60.9
	Democratic	Dick Schrad	11,011	39.1
Total votes			28,152	100.0
	Republican gain from Democratic

District 16

Iowa Senate, District 16 General Election, 2012

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Dick Dearden (incumbent) [c]	16,065	65.5
	Republican	David Scott Edwards	8,469	34.5
Total votes			24,534	100.0
	Democratic hold

District 18

Iowa Senate, District 18 General Election, 2012

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Janet Petersen	18,954	69.2
	Republican	Vicki Stogdill	8,455	30.8
Total votes			27,409	100.0
	Democratic hold

District 20

Iowa Senate, District 20 General Election, 2012

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Brad Zaun (incumbent) [d]	24,236	100.0
Total votes			24,236	100.0
	Republican hold

District 22

Iowa Senate, District 22 Republican Primary, 2012

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Pat Ward (incumbent)[e]	1,818	58.0
	Republican	Jeff Mullen	1,314	42.0
Total votes			3,132	100.0

Iowa Senate, District 22 General Election, 2012

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Pat Ward (incumbent)[e]	19,067	56.6
	Democratic	Desmund Adams	14,626	43.4
Total votes			33,693	100.0
	Republican gain from Democratic

• Senator Ward died less than a month before the 2012 general election and, since the ballots had already been printed, won this election after having already deceased. A special election was held due to these circumstances.

Iowa Senate, District 22 Special Election, December 11, 2012

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Charles Schneider[f]	5,378	56.5
	Democratic	Desmund Adams	4,136	43.5
Total votes			9,514	100.0
	Republican hold

District 24

Iowa Senate, District 24 General Election, 2012

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Jerry Behn (incumbent)	17,035	54.8
	Democratic	Shelly Stotts	14,049	45.2
Total votes			31,084	100.0
	Republican hold

District 26

Iowa Senate, District 26 General Election, 2012

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Mary Jo Wilhelm (incumbent)[g]	15,530	50.2
	Republican	Merlin Bartz (incumbent)[h]	15,404	49.8
Total votes			30,934	100.0
	Democratic gain from Republican

District 28

Iowa Senate, District 28 General Election, 2012

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Michael Breitbach	14,867	50.06
	Democratic	John Beard	14,833	49.94
Total votes			29,700	100.0
	Republican hold

District 30

Iowa Senate, District 30 General Election, 2012

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Jeff Danielson (incumbent)[i]	16,946	51.0
	Republican	Matt Reisetter	16,265	49.0
Total votes			33,211	100.0
	Democratic gain from Republican

District 32

Iowa Senate, District 32 General Election, 2012

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Brian Schoenjahn (incumbent)[j]	16,338	53.2
	Republican	Elliott Henderson	14,346	46.8
Total votes			30,684	100.0
	Democratic gain from Republican

District 34

Iowa Senate, District 34 General Election, 2012

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Liz Mathis (incumbent)[k]	21,178	61.2
	Republican	Ryan Flood	13,401	38.8
Total votes			34,579	100.0
	Democratic hold

District 36

Iowa Senate, District 36 Republican Primary, 2012

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Jane A. Jech	1,880	58.8
	Republican	Larry McKibben	1,316	41.2
Total votes			3,196	100.0

Iowa Senate, District 36 General Election, 2012

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Steve Sodders (incumbent)[l]	15,733	54.1
	Republican	Jane A. Jech	13,360	45.9
Total votes			29,093	100.0
	Democratic gain from Republican

District 38

Iowa Senate, District 38 Democratic Primary, 2012

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Shelley Parbs	735	57.9
	Democratic	Nicholas G. Volk	299	23.6
	Democratic	LaForest Sherman	235	18.5
Total votes			1,269	100.0

Iowa Senate, District 38 General Election, 2012

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Tim Kapucian (incumbent)[m]	17,124	54.8
	Democratic	Shelley Parbs	14,137	45.2
Total votes			31,261	100.0
	Republican gain from Democratic

District 40

Iowa Senate, District 40 General Election, 2012

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Ken Rozenboom	17,628	60.2
	Democratic	Tim Tripp	11,670	39.8
Total votes			29,298	100.0
	Republican hold

District 42

Iowa Senate, District 42 Democratic Primary, 2012

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Rich Taylor	1,446	49.8
	Democratic	Donna Amandus	1,032	35.6
	Democratic	Bob Morawitz	423	14.6
Total votes			2,901	100.0

Iowa Senate, District 42 Republican Primary, 2012

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Larry W. Kruse	2,324	71.1
	Republican	Lee Harder	943	28.9
Total votes			3,267	100.0

Iowa Senate, District 42 General Election, 2012

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Rich Taylor	15,058	50.6
	Republican	Larry W. Kruse	13,281	44.7
	Independent	Michael Garmoe	1,396	4.7
Total votes			29,735	100.0
	Democratic gain from Republican

District 44

Iowa Senate, District 44 General Election, 2012

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Thomas G. Courtney (incumbent)	16,125	57.0
	Republican	Brad Bourn	12,168	43.0
Total votes			28,293	100.0
	Democratic hold

District 46

Iowa Senate, District 46 Republican Primary, 2012

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Shawn Hamerlinck (incumbent)[n]	1,476	60.9
	Republican	James F. Hahn (incumbent)[o]	947	39.1
Total votes			2,423	100.0

Iowa Senate, District 46 General Election, 2012

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Chris Brase	15,960	53.4
	Republican	Shawn Hamerlinck (incumbent)[n]	13,950	46.6
Total votes			29,910	100.0
	Democratic hold

District 48

Iowa Senate, District 48 Republican Primary, 2012

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Dan Zumbach	1,479	78.8
	Republican	Brian W. Cook	399	21.2
Total votes			1,878	100.0

Iowa Senate, District 48 General Election, 2012

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Dan Zumbach	16,415	50.9
	Democratic	Nate Willems	15,858	49.1
Total votes			32,273	100.0
	Republican hold

District 49

Iowa Senate, District 49 Democratic Primary, 2012

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Rita Hart	1,289	53.5
	Democratic	Dorothy O'Brien	1,121	46.5
Total votes			2,410	100.0

Iowa Senate, District 49 General Election, 2012

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Rita Hart	17,305	54.6
	Republican	Andrew Naeve	14,398	45.4
Total votes			31,703	100.0
	Democratic gain from Republican

District 50

Iowa Senate, District 50 Republican Primary, 2012

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	William Johnson	745	56.1
	Republican	John E. Hulsizer, Jr.	584	43.9
Total votes			1,329	100.0

Iowa Senate, District 50 General Election, 2012

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Pam Jochum (incumbent)[p]	20,808	68.0
	Republican	William Johnson	9,790	32.0
Total votes			30,598	100.0
	Democratic hold

1. Redistricted from district 50 to 8.
2. Redistricted from district 48 to 12.
3. Redistricted from district 34 to 16.
4. Redistricted from district 32 to 20.
5. Redistricted from district 30 to 22.
6. Won a special election in district 22 following the death of Senator Ward.
7. Redistricted from district 8 to 26.
8. Redistricted from district 6 to 26.
9. Redistricted from district 10 to 30.
10. Redistricted from district 12 to 32.
11. Redistricted from district 18 to 34.
12. Redistricted from district 22 to 36.
13. Redistricted from district 20 to 38.
14. Redistricted from district 42 to 46.
15. Redistricted from district 40 to 46.
16. Redistricted from district 14 to 50.

Source:^[21][22][23]

See also

• United States elections, 2012
• United States House of Representatives elections in Iowa, 2012
• Elections in Iowa