2025 Iowa Senate District 35 special election

2025 Iowa Senate District 35 special election

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Iowa Senate District 35
Turnout	21.3%
Nominee Mike Zimmer Katie Whittington Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 4,812 4,474 Percentage 51.71% 48.08%
Results by precinct Results by county Zimmer:   40–50%   50–60% Whittington:   50–60%   60–70%   70–80%
Senator before election Chris Cournoyer Republican Elected Senator Mike Zimmer Democratic

Iowa's 35th Senate district

A special election was held in the U.S. state of Iowa on January 28, 2025 to elect a new member for District 35 in the Iowa Senate, representing the counties of Clinton, Jackson, and Scott. The election filled a vacancy caused by the appointment of Republican member Chris Cournoyer to the office of lieutenant governor in December 2024. Democrat Mike Zimmer achieved an upset victory, flipping a district won by Republican nominee Donald Trump by 21 points in the 2024 presidential election. ^[1]

Background

Incumbent Republican senator Chris Cournoyer was re-elected state senator in 2022 with 60.0 percent of the vote. She vacated the seat being appointed lieutenant governor in December 2024. ^[2]

Candidates

The following candidates were certified for the ballot: ^[3]

• Katie Whittington, administrative assistant (Republican)
• Mike Zimmer, president of the Central DeWitt School Board (Democratic)

Voters also had the option to write in candidates.

Results

2025 Iowa Senate District 35 special election (unofficial results)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	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%

References

1. Opsahl, Robin (January 29, 2025). "Democrat Mike Zimmer wins Iowa Senate special election". Iowa Capital Dispatch. Retrieved February 14, 2025.
2. Opsahl, Robin (December 16, 2024). "Sen. Chris Cournoyer appointed Iowa lieutenant governor". Iowa Capitol Dispatch. Retrieved February 14, 2025.
3. "Iowa state legislative special elections, 2025". Ballotpedia. Retrieved February 14, 2025.