Iowa 2010 Election Results

Iowa held its general election on November 2, 2010, deciding 125 legislative seats and 7 statewide offices led by the governorship. Control shifted: the House moved from a 56-44 Democratic majority to a 60-40 Republican majority.

Highlights

• Republicans took the governorship and the House, ending the Democratic trifecta, but Senate Democrats kept a narrowed majority, leaving Iowa with divided government for the 2011 session.
• Former Gov. Terry Branstad (R) beat Chet Culver (D) by nearly 10 points, making Culver Iowa's first incumbent governor to lose since 1962. Branstad's running mate, Kim Reynolds (R), unseated Lt. Gov. Patty Judge (D) on the joint ticket.
• House Republicans picked Rep. Kraig Paulsen (R) as their Speaker. Senate Democrats fell from 32-18 to 26-24; their closest loss came in Senate District 47, where Mark Chelgren (R) edged Sen. Keith Kreiman (D) by 10 votes after a recount.
• Down the ballot, Matt Schultz (R) unseated Secretary of State Michael Mauro (D) by under 3 points, the closest statewide race. The other four statewide incumbents held on: Attorney General Tom Miller (D), Treasurer Michael Fitzgerald (D), Auditor David Vaudt (R), and Agriculture Secretary Bill Northey (R).
• In all, 24 legislative seats changed party, every one but House District 51 toward Republicans. The tightest House flip was House District 48, where Chip Baltimore (R) beat Rep. Donovan Olson (D) by 23 votes. Beyond the flips, 5 races finished inside two points, all Democratic holds:
  • John Wittneben (D) kept House District 7 by 32 votes.
  • Rep. Andrew Wenthe (D) held House District 18 by 36.
  • Tod Bowman (D) kept Senate District 13 by 70.
  • Rep. Kurt Swaim (D) held House District 94 by 76.
  • Rep. Roger Thomas (D) held House District 24 by about 120.
• Voters approved Amendment 1, creating a constitutional Natural Resources and Outdoor Recreation Trust Fund, and rejected by about two to one Question 1, which asked whether to call a constitutional convention. On the same ballot, Iowans for the first time in state history voted not to retain three Supreme Court justices, over the court's ruling that the state's ban on same-sex marriage was unconstitutional.

Legislature

• House (100 seats): 56 D, 44 R before the election, 40 D, 60 R after; control moved from Democrats to Republicans.
• Senate (50 seats): 32 D, 18 R before the election, 26 D, 24 R after; control stayed with Democrats.

Statewide races

Legislative races

Ballot measures