Iowa's 1st Senate district

Iowa's 1st State Senate district
Senator	Catelin Drey D – Sioux City

The 1st district of the Iowa Senate, located in Northwestern Iowa, is currently composed of part of Woodbury County. ^[1] It is represented by Catelin Drey, who won an August 2025 special election to succeed Republican Rocky De Witt. On September 15, 2025, she was sworn in by Iowa Supreme Court Justice Matthew McDermott. ^[2]

List of representatives

Source: ^[3]

Representative	Party		Dates	Residence	Notes
Jacob Huner		Democratic	1846-1848	Fort Madison
James Sprott		Whig	1846-1850	Summittville
Thomas Stevenson Espy		Democratic	1848-1852	Fort Madison
Nathan Baker		Democratic	1850-1852	West Point
James M. Love		Democratic	1852-1855	Keokuk
Calvin J. Price		Democratic	1852-1854
David Trowbridge Brigham		Democratic	1854-1856
Salmon Cowles		Democratic	1852-1854	Fort Madison
Exum S. McCulloch		Democratic	1854-1858	Harrison Township	[4]
William A. Thurston		Democratic	1854-1858	Fort Madison
John R. Allen		Democratic	1858-1860
John Walker Rankin		Republican	1858-1862	Keokuk
Valentine Buechel		Democratic	1860-1862	Fort Madison
Frederick Hesser		Democratic	1862-1866	Fort Madison
George Washington McCrary		Republican	1862-1866	Keokuk
Nathaniel Gates Hedges		Democratic	1866-1870
Joseph Hollman		Democratic	1866-1870
Exum S. McCulloch		Democratic	1870-1874	Harrison Township
Henry Rothert		Republican	1874-1878	Keokuk	[5]
James Shelley		Democratic	1878-1882	Keokuk	[6]
Henry Rothert		Republican	1882-1886	Keokuk	[7]
Josephy M. Casey		Democratic	1886-1888	Fort Madison	[8]
William Kent		Democratic	1888-1894	Fort Madison	[9]
John Downey		Democratic	1894-1898	Lee County	[10]
David Young		Democratic	1898-1907	Keokuk	[11]
E. P. McManus		Democratic	1907-1915	Keokuk	[12]
Joseph R. Frailey		Republican	1915-1923	Fort Madison	[13]
Isaac Snook		Democratic	1923-1927	West Point	[14]
Joseph R. Frailey		Republican	1927-1935	Fort Madison	[15]
Timothy Driscoll		Democratic	1935-1937	Belfast	[16]
Stanley Hart		Republican	1937-1955	Keokuk	[17]
Edward McManus		Democratic	1955-1959	Keokuk	[18]
Charles Eppers		Democratic	1959-1963	Keokuk	[19]
Seeley Lodwick		Republican	1963-1969	Wever	[20]
Wilson Davis		Republican	1969-1971	Keokuk	[21]
Lucas DeKoster		Republican	1971-1983	Hull	[22]
Milo Colton		Democratic	1983-1987	Sioux City	[23]
Al Sturgeon		Democratic	1987-1995	Sioux City	[24]
Steven Hansen		Democratic	1995-2003	Sioux City	[25]
Steven Warnstadt		Democratic	2003-2011	Sioux City	[26]
Rick Bertrand		Republican	2011-2013	Sioux City	[27]
David Johnson		Republican	2013-2015	Ocheyedan	[28]
David Johnson		Independent	2015-2019	Ocheyedan	[29]
Zach Whiting		Republican	2019-2021	Spirit Lake	[30]
Dave Rowley		Republican	2021-2023		[31]
Rocky De Witt		Republican	2023-2025		[32]
Catelin Drey		Democratic	2025-present	Sioux City	[33]

Election results

2018

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

Recent election results from statewide races

Year	Office	Results [34]
2008	President	Obama 54–44%
2012	President	Obama 57–43%
2016	President	Trump 50–44%
	Senate	Grassley 57–38%
2018	Governor	Reynolds 50–48%
	Attorney General	Miller 76–24%
	Secretary of State	DeJear 49.0–48.6%
	Treasurer	Fitzgerald 55–43%
	Auditor	Sand 56–41%
2020	President	Trump 50–48%
	Senate	Greenfield 48.4–47.6%
2022	Senate	Grassley 57–42%
	Governor	Reynolds 60–37%
	Attorney General	Bird 52–48%
	Secretary of State	Pate 59–41%
	Treasurer	Smith 54–46%
	Auditor	Halbur 51–49%
2024	President	Trump 55–43%

Historical district boundaries

Source: ^[35]

Map	Description	Years effective	Notes
	Lee County	1846 - 1857	From 1846 to 1857, district numbering was not utilized by the Iowa State Legislature. This convention was added with the passing of the 1857 Iowa Constitution. Numbering of districts pre-1857 is done as a matter of historic convenience. [36]
	Lee County	1858-1970
	Plymouth County Sioux County Lyon County (part)	1971-1972	In 1970, the Iowa Legislature passed an amendment to the Iowa Constitution setting forth the rules for legislative redistricting in order to abide by the rules established by the Reynolds v. Sims Supreme Court case. The first reapportionment map created by the Republican controlled legislature was deemed unconstitutional, but was still used for the 1970 election. [37]
	Plymouth County (part) Sioux County (part) Lyon County (part)	1973-1982
	Woodbury County (part)	1983-1992
	Woodbury County (part)	1993-2002
	Woodbury County (part) Sioux City (North Half)	2003-2012
	Lyon County Osceola County Dickinson County Clay County Palo Alto County	2013-2022
	Woodbury County (part) Sioux City (North Half) Concord Township Banner Township Lawton	2023–present

See also

• Iowa General Assembly
• Iowa Senate

References

1. "SENATE DISTRICT 1" (PDF). Iowa General Assembly . Retrieved March 28, 2024.
2. Opsahl, Robin (September 15, 2025). "Democrat Catelin Drey sworn in to Iowa Senate". Iowa Capital Dispatch. Retrieved September 15, 2025.
3. "Iowa State Senate District 1 Historic Legislators".
4. "Legislator Details - E. S. McCulloch".
5. "Legislator Details - Henry Rothert".
6. "Legislator Details - James Shelley".
7. "Legislator Details - Henry Rothert".
8. "Legislator Details - J. M. Casey".
9. "Legislator Details - William Kent".
10. "Legislator Details - John Downey".
11. "Legislator Details - David Young".
12. "Legislator Details - Edward P. McManus".
13. "Legislator Details - Joseph Frailey".
14. "Legislator Details - Isaac Snook".
15. "Legislator Details - Joseph Frailey".
16. "Legislator - Timothy Driscoll".
17. "Legislator Details - Stanley Hart".
18. "Legislator Details - Edward J. McManus".
19. "Legislator Details - Charles Eppers".
20. "Legislator Details - Seeley Lodiwck".
21. "Legislator Details - Wilson Davis".
22. "Legislator Details - Lucas Dekoster".
23. "Legislator Details - Milo Colton" . Retrieved February 6, 2023.
24. "Legislator Details - Al Sturgeon" . Retrieved February 6, 2023.
25. "Legislator Details - Steven Hansen" . Retrieved February 6, 2023.
26. "Legislator Details - Steven Warnstadt" . Retrieved February 6, 2023.
27. "Legislator Details - Rick Bertrand" . Retrieved February 6, 2023.
28. "Legislator Details - David Johnson" . Retrieved February 6, 2023.
29. "Legislator Details - David Johnson" . Retrieved February 6, 2023.
30. "Legislator Details - Zach Whiting" . Retrieved February 6, 2023.
31. "Legislator Details - Dave Rowley" . Retrieved February 6, 2023.
32. "Legislator Details - Rocky De Witt" . Retrieved February 6, 2023.
33. Gruber-Miller, Stephen (August 26, 2025). "Democrat Catelin Drey wins Iowa Senate special election, breaking Republican supermajority". The Des Moines Register. Retrieved August 27, 2025.
34. "IA 2022 State Senate". Dave's Redistricting. Retrieved January 23, 2026.
35. "Iowa State Senate District 1 Historic Legislators".
36. "1846 Iowa Constitution" (PDF).
37. "Reapportionment in Iowa". Archived from the original on April 3, 2023. Retrieved April 3, 2023.