In 2025, Iowa will hold elections for municipal governments, school boards, and to fill vacancies for various offices, including the Iowa General Assembly.[1]
Under Iowa law, if a vacancy arises during the Iowa General Assembly's legislative session, the Governor of Iowa is required to call an election at the "earliest practical time" with at least eighteen days' notice.[2]
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.[3] Subsequently, 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. Democratic candidate Mike Zimmer achieved an upset victory, flipping a district won by Republican nominee Donald Trump by 21 points in the 2024 presidential election.[4][5][6][7]
Candidates
The following candidates were certified for the ballot:[8]
Prior to his death, District 100 was represented by Martin Graber following redistricting in 2023. The last election he won was in 2024, 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 for Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012, and subsequently swung to Donald Trump in 2016.[9] Lee County has since voted again for Trump in 2020 and 2024. Subsequently, a special election was held in the U.S. state of Iowa on March 11, 2025 to elect a new member for District 100 in the Iowa House of Representatives, representing a large portion of Lee County. The election will fill a vacancy caused by the death of Republican member Martin Graber, who unexpectedly died on January 31, 2025.[10]
Candidates
The parties nominated their candidates by convention. The Republican convention chose Blaine 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 the Iowa 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 the 50th Senate District in 2024.[14]
Results
2025 Iowa House of Representatives District 100 special election[15]
A special election in the U.S. state of Iowa was held on April 29, 2025, to elect a new member to the Iowa House of Representatives to represent District 78. The special election was called after the resignation of Democratic incumbent Sami Scheetz following his appointment to the Linn County Board of Supervisors. District 78 is located entirely within Linn County, representing a portion of Cedar Rapids.
On April 8, 2025, governor Kim Reynolds issued the writs 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.
Previous results (2022–present)
Results before the 2020 redistricting cycle are not included as the current 78th district does not contain any of the old 78th district.
Rocky De Witt, the Republican incumbent senator from Iowa'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 the Iowa Senate.
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]
For states without two-round systems, the date of the general election is listed. For states with two-round systems, elections that can elect a candidate on the first ballot will have their first round date listed with an asterisk (*) while elections that always hold a second round will have their second round date listed.
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