2018 Iowa Senate election

The 2018 Iowa State Senate elections took place as part of the biennial 2018 United States elections. Iowa voters elected state senators in half of the state senate's districts—the 25 odd-numbered state senate districts. State senators serve four-year terms in the Iowa State Senate, with half of the seats up for election each cycle.

2018 Iowa State Senate election

← 2016 November 6, 2018 2020 →
25 out of 50 seats in the Iowa State Senate 26 seats needed for a majority
Majority party Minority party Third party   Leader Charles Schneider Janet Petersen David Johnson Party Republican Democratic Independent Leader's seat 22nd district 18th district 1st district (retired) Last election 29 20 1[1] Seats before 29 20 1 Seats after 32 18 0 Seat change 3 2 1 Popular vote 274,664 348,325 Percentage 44.09% 55.91%
Results of the elections:      Republican gain      Democratic gain      Republican hold      Democratic hold      No election
President of the Senate before election Charles Schneider Republican Elected President of the Senate Charles Schneider Republican

The primary election on June 5, 2018, determined which candidates appeared on the November 6, 2018 general election ballot. Primary election results can be obtained here.^[2]

Following the previous 2016 Iowa Senate election, Republicans flipped control of the Iowa State Senate, taking control away from the Democrats.

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

Republicans expanded their control of the Iowa State Senate following the 2018 general election, increasing their majority from 29 to 32 seats. Democrats saw their numbers dwindle from 20 to 18 seats. The lone Independent member of the IA state Senate was replaced by a Republican as well.

Summary of results

• NOTE: Only odd-numbered Iowa Senate seats were up for election in 2018, so even-numbered seats are not included here.

State Senate district	Incumbent	Party		Elected Senator	Party
1st	David Johnson		Ind	Zach Whiting		Republican
3rd	Jim Carlin		Rep	Jim Carlin		Republican
5th	Tim Kraayenbrink		Rep	Tim Kraayenbrink		Republican
7th	Rick Bertrand		Rep	Jackie Smith		Democratic
9th	Jason Schultz		Rep	Jason Schultz		Republican
11th	Tom Shipley		Rep	Tom Shipley		Republican
13th	Julian Garrett		Rep	Julian Garrett		Republican
15th	Chaz Allen		Dem	Zach Nunn		Republican
17th	Tony Bisignano		Dem	Tony Bisignano		Democratic
19th	Jack Whitver		Rep	Jack Whitver		Republican
21st	Matt McCoy		Dem	Claire Celsi		Democratic
23rd	Herman Quirmbach		Dem	Herman Quirmbach		Democratic
25th	Annette Sweeney		Rep	Annette Sweeney		Republican
27th	Amanda Ragan		Dem	Amanda Ragan		Democratic
29th	Tod Bowman		Dem	Carrie Koelker		Republican
31st	William Dotzler		Dem	William Dotzler		Democratic
33rd	Rob Hogg		Dem	Rob Hogg		Democratic
35th	Wally Horn		Dem	Todd Taylor		Democratic
37th	Robert Dvorsky		Dem	Zach Wahls		Democratic
39th	Kevin Kinney		Dem	Kevin Kinney		Democratic
41st	Mark Chelgren		Rep	Mariannette Miller-Meeks		Republican
43rd	Joe Bolkcom		Dem	Joe Bolkcom		Democratic
45th	Jim Lykam		Dem	Jim Lykam		Democratic
47th	Roby Smith		Rep	Roby Smith		Republican
49th	Rita Hart		Dem	Chris Cournoyer		Republican

Source:^[3][4]

Closest races

Seats where the margin of victory was under 10%:

1. State Senate district 27, 2%
2. State Senate district 7, 2.6% gain
3. State Senate district 19, 2.8%
4. State Senate district 41, 3.6%
5. State Senate district 47, 5.6%
6. State Senate district 29, 7.2% gain
7. State Senate district 39, 9%
8. State Senate district 49, 9.8% gain

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
Governing[5]	Safe R	October 8, 2018

Detailed results

• Reminder: Only odd-numbered Iowa Senate seats were up for election in 2018, so even-numbered seats are not included here.

District 1 • District 3 • District 5 • District 7 • District 9 • District 11 • District 13 • District 15 • District 17 • District 19 • District 21 • District 23 • District 25 • District 27 • District 29 • District 31 • District 33 • District 35 • District 37 • District 39 • District 41 • District 43 • District 45 • District 47 • District 49

• 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 1

Iowa Senate, District 1 Republican primary, 2018

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Zach Whiting	3,539	62.4
	Republican	Brad D. Price	1,288	22.7
	Republican	Jesse Wolfe	844	14.9
Total votes			5,671	100.0

Iowa Senate, District 1 general election, 2018

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Zach Whiting	21,245	100.0
Total votes			21,245	100.0
	Republican gain from Independent

District 3

Iowa Senate, District 3 general election, 2018

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Jim Carlin (incumbent)	16,366	64.8
	Democratic	Dave Dawson	8,884	35.2
Total votes			25,250	100.0
	Republican hold

District 5

Iowa Senate, District 5 general election, 2018

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Tim Kraayenbrink (incumbent)	14,571	62.0
	Democratic	John J. O'Brien	8,935	38.0
Total votes			23,506	100.0
	Republican hold

District 7

Iowa Senate, District 7 general election, 2018

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Jackie Smith	9,125	51.3
	Republican	Rick Bertrand (incumbent)	8,676	48.7
Total votes			17,801	100.0
	Democratic gain from Republican

District 9

Iowa Senate, District 9 general election, 2018

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Jason Schultz (incumbent)	18,533	100.0
Total votes			18,533	100.0
	Republican hold

District 11

Iowa Senate, District 11 general election, 2018

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Tom Shipley (incumbent)	18,007	67.2
	Democratic	Sara Ramsey	8,770	32.8
Total votes			26,777	100.0
	Republican hold

District 13

Iowa Senate, District 13 general election, 2018

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Julian Garrett (incumbent)	17,199	55.9
	Democratic	Vicky Brenner	13,558	44.1
Total votes			30,757	100.0
	Republican hold

District 15

Iowa Senate, District 15 general election, 2018

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Zach Nunn	16,988	57.0
	Democratic	Dan Nieland	12,830	43.0
Total votes			29,818	100.0
	Republican gain from Democratic

District 17

Iowa Senate, District 17 general election, 2018

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Tony Bisignano (incumbent)	17,808	100.0
Total votes			17,808	100.0
	Democratic hold

District 19

Iowa Senate, District 19 Republican primary, 2018

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Jack Whitver (incumbent)	1,369	80.8
	Republican	Brett H. Nelson	326	19.2
Total votes			1,695	100.0

Iowa Senate, District 19 general election, 2018

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Jack Whitver (incumbent)	18,598	51.4
	Democratic	Amber Gustafson	17,608	48.6
Total votes			36,206	100.0
	Republican hold

District 21

Iowa Senate, District 21 Democratic primary, 2018

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Claire Celsi	5,287	58.1
	Democratic	Connie Ryan	3,818	41.9
Total votes			9,105	100.0

Iowa Senate, District 21 general election, 2018

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Claire Celsi	20,499	66.1
	Republican	Brian B. Bales	10,511	33.9
Total votes			31,010	100.0
	Democratic hold

District 23

Iowa Senate, District 23 general election, 2018

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Herman C. Quirmbach (incumbent)	19,020	75.2
	Libertarian	Eric Cooper	6,273	24.8
Total votes			25,293	100.0
	Democratic hold

District 25

Iowa Senate, District 25 Republican primary, 2018

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Annette Sweeney (incumbent)	2,731	82.8
	Republican	Chad J. Buss	566	17.2
Total votes			3,297	100.0

Iowa Senate, District 25 general election, 2018

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Annette Sweeney (incumbent)	16,621	61.6
	Democratic	Tracy Freese	10,345	38.4
Total votes			26,966	100.0
	Republican hold

District 27

Iowa Senate, District 27 general election, 2018

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Amanda Ragan (incumbent)	12,823	51.0
	Republican	Shannon Latham	12,322	49.0
Total votes			25,145	100.0
	Democratic hold

District 29

Iowa Senate, District 29 general election, 2018

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Carrie Koelker	15,493	53.6
	Democratic	Tod R. Bowman (incumbent)	13,437	46.4
Total votes			28,930	100.0
	Republican gain from Democratic

District 31

Iowa Senate, District 31 general election, 2018

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Bill Dotzler (incumbent)	14,573	100.0
Total votes			14,573	100.0
	Democratic hold

District 33

Iowa Senate, District 33 general election, 2018

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Robert M. Hogg (incumbent)	17,912	65.6
	Republican	Edward Bernie Hayes	9,407	34.4
Total votes			27,319	100.0
	Democratic hold

District 35

Iowa Senate, District 35 general election, 2018

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Todd Taylor	19,875	100.0
Total votes			19,875	100.0
	Democratic hold

District 37

Iowa Senate, District 37 Democratic primary, 2018

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Zach Wahls	3,902	59.6
	Democratic	Janice Weiner	2,281	34.9
	Democratic	Eric Dirth	189	2.9
	Democratic	Imad Youssif	169	2.6
Total votes			6,541	100.0

Iowa Senate, District 37 general election, 2018

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Zach Wahls	20,321	78.5
	Libertarian	Carl A. Krambeck	5,566	21.5
Total votes			25,887	100.0
	Democratic hold

District 39

Iowa Senate, District 39 general election, 2018

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Kevin Kinney (incumbent)	15,758	54.5
	Republican	Heather Hora	13,130	45.5
Total votes			28,888	100.0
	Democratic hold

District 41

Iowa Senate, District 41 Republican primary, 2018

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Mariannette Miller-Meeks	1,706	85.9
	Republican	Daniel Cesar	279	14.1
Total votes			1,985	100.0

Iowa Senate, District 41 Democratic primary, 2018

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Mary S. Stewart	2,916	58.4
	Democratic	Ed Malloy	2,076	41.6
Total votes			4,992	100.0

Iowa Senate, District 41 general election, 2018

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Mariannette Miller-Meeks	11,460	51.8
	Democratic	Mary S. Stewart	10,652	48.2
Total votes			22,112	100.0
	Republican hold

District 43

Iowa Senate, District 43 general election, 2018

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Joe Bolkcom (incumbent)	23,790	79.6
	Republican	Patrick Joseph Wronkiewicz	6,107	20.4
Total votes			29,897	100.0
	Democratic hold

District 45

Iowa Senate, District 45 general election, 2018

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Jim Lykam (incumbent)	14,629	100.0
Total votes			14,629	100.0
	Democratic hold

District 47

Iowa Senate, District 47 general election, 2018

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Roby Smith (incumbent)	16,125	52.8
	Democratic	Marie Gleason	14,418	47.2
Total votes			30,543	100.0
	Republican hold

District 49

Iowa Senate, District 49 general election, 2018

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Chris Cournoyer	13,305	54.9
	Democratic	Patti Robinson	10,916	45.1
Total votes			24,221	100.0
	Republican gain from Democratic

Source:^[6][7]

See also

• United States elections, 2018
• United States House of Representatives elections in Iowa, 2018
• Elections in Iowa