Political party strength in Iowa

The following table indicates the party of elected officials in the U.S. state of Iowa:

• Governor
• Lieutenant Governor
• Secretary of State
• Attorney General
• State Auditor
• State Treasurer
• Secretary of Agriculture

The table also indicates the historical party composition in the:

• State Senate
• State House of Representatives
• State delegation to the U.S. Senate
• State delegation to the U.S. House of Representatives

For years in which a presidential election was held, the table indicates which party's nominees received the state's electoral votes.

1846–1920

Year	Executive offices						General Assembly		United States Congress			Electoral votes
	Governor	Lt. Governor	Sec. of State	Attorney Gen.	Auditor	Treasurer	State Senate	State House	U.S. Senator (Class II)	U.S. Senator (Class III)	U.S. House
1846	Ansel Briggs (D)	no such office	Elisha Cutler Jr. (D)	no such office	Joseph T. Fales (D)	Morgan Reno (D)	12D, 6W	23W, 17D			2D
1847									George Wallace Jones (D)	Augustus C. Dodge (D)
1848			Josiah H. Bonney (D)									Lewis Cass/ William O. Butler (D)N
1849							11D, 8W	28D, 11W			1D, 1W
1850			George W. McCleary (D)		William Pattee (D)	Israel Kister (D)
1851	Stephen P. Hempstead (D)						13D, 5W	34D, 5W			2D
1852						Martin L. Morris (D)						Franklin Pierce/ William R. King (D)Y
1853				David C. Cloud (D)			20D, 11W	40D, 23W			1D, 1W
1854					Andrew J. Stevens (W)
1855	James W. Grimes (W)				John Pattee (R)		17D, 14W	40W, 31D		James Harlan (FS)
1856			Elijah Sells (R)	Samuel Allen Rice (R)								John C. Frémont/ William L. Dayton (R)N
1857							23R, 12D	44R, 26D		James Harlan (R)	2R
1858	Ralph P. Lowe (R)	Oran Faville (R)					22R, 14D [a]	42R, 30D [a]
1859					Jonathan W. Battel (R)	John W. Jones (R)			James W. Grimes (R)
1860	Samuel J. Kirkwood (R)	Nicholas J. Rusch (R)					23R, 20D	49R, 37D				Abraham Lincoln/ Hannibal Hamlin (R)Y
1861				Charles C. Nourse (R)
1862		John R. Needham (R)					32R, 14D	60R, 34D
1863			James Wright (R)			William H. Holmes (R)					6R
1864	William M. Stone (R)	Enoch W. Eastman (R)					42R, 4D	87R, 5D				Abraham Lincoln/ Andrew Johnson (NU)Y
1865				Isaac L. Allen (R)	John A. Elliott (R)					Samuel J. Kirkwood (R)
1866		Benjamin F. Gue (R)		Frederick E. Bissell (R)			42R, 5D	83R, 15D
1867			Ed Wright (R)	Henry O'Connor (R)		Samuel E. Rankin (R)				James Harlan (R)
1868	Samuel Merrill (R)	John Scott (R)					42R, 7D	86R, 14D				Ulysses S. Grant/ Schuyler Colfax (R)Y
1869
1870		Madison Miner Walden (R)					43R, 7D		James B. Howell (R)
1871		Henry C. Bulis (R)			John Russell (R)				George G. Wright (R)
1872	Cyrus C. Carpenter (R)			Marsena E. Cutts (R)			42R, 8D	78R, 22D				Ulysses S. Grant/ Henry Wilson (R)Y
1873			Josiah T. Young (R)			William Christy (R)				William B. Allison (R)	9R
1874		Joseph Dysart (R)					34R, 10I, 6D	50R, 44I, 6D [b]
1875					Buren R. Sherman (R)						8R, 1D
1876	Samuel J. Kirkwood (R) [c]	Joshua G. Newbold (R)					41R, 9D	70R, 30D				Rutherford B. Hayes/ William A. Wheeler (R)Y
1877				John F. McJunkin (R)		George W. Bemis (R)			Samuel J. Kirkwood (R)		9R
	Joshua G. Newbold (R) [d]	vacant
1878	John H. Gear (R)	Frank T. Campbell (R)					38R, 12D	73R, 25D, 2GB
1879			John A. T. Hull (R)								7R, 2GB
1880							41R, 7D, 2GB	82R, 14D, 4GB				James A. Garfield/ Chester A. Arthur (R)Y
1881				Smith McPherson (R)	William V. Lucas (R)	Edwin H. Conger (R)			James W. McDill (R)		9R
1882	Buren R. Sherman (R)	Orlando H. Manning (R)					46R, 2D, 2GB	71R, 22D, 7GB
1883					John L. Brown (R)				James F. Wilson (R)		8R, 2D, 1GB
1884							39R, 11D	52R, 42D, 6GB			6R, 4D, 1GB	James G. Blaine/ John A. Logan (R)N
1885			Frank D. Jackson (R)	Andrew J. Baker (R)	Jonathan W. Battell (R)	Voltaire P. Twombly (R)					7R, 2D, 1G
1886	William Larrabee (R)	John A. T. Hull (R)			Charles Beardsley (R)		31R, 19D	60R, 39D, 1I
1887					John L. Brown (R)						8R, 1D, 1GB, 1IR
1888					Hames A. Lyons (R)		35R, 15D	64R, 33D, 3I				Benjamin Harrison/ Levi P. Morton (R)Y
1889				John Young Stone (R)							10R, 1D
1890	Horace Boies (D)	Alfred N. Poyneer (R)					28R, 20D, 1UL, 1I	50D, 45R, 4I, 1UL [e]
1891			William M. McFarland (R)			Byron A. Beeson (R)					6D, 5R
1892		Samuel L. Bestow (D)					25D, 24R, 1Pop [f]	54R, 45D, 1I				Benjamin Harrison/ Whitelaw Reid (R)N
1893					Cornelius G. McCarthy (R)						10R, 1D
1894	Frank D. Jackson (R)	Warren S. Dungan (R)					34R, 16D	79R, 21D
1895				Milton Remley (R)		John Herriott (R)			John H. Gear (R)		11R
1896	Francis M. Drake (R)	Matt Parrott (R)					43R, 7D	80R, 20D				William McKinley/ Garret Hobart (R)Y
1897			George L. Dobson (R)
1898	L. M. Shaw (R)	James C. Milliman (R)					39R, 11D	62R, 38D
1899					Frank Merriam (R)
1900							42R, 8D	81R, 19D				William McKinley/ Theodore Roosevelt (R)Y
1901			William B. Martin (R)	Charles W. Mullan (R)		Gilbert S. Gilbertson (R)			Jonathan P. Dolliver (R)
1902	Albert B. Cummins (R) [c]	John Herriott (R)					39R, 11D	84R, 16D
1903					Beryl F. Carroll (R)						10R, 1D
1904							42R, 8D	78R, 22D				Theodore Roosevelt/ Charles W. Fairbanks (R)Y
1905											11R
1906							40R, 10D [g]	82R, 18D [g]
1907		Warren Garst (R)	William C. Hayward (R)	John F. Riggs		Willison W. Morrow (R)	36R, 14D	75R, 33D			10R, 1D
1908												William Howard Taft/ James S. Sherman (R)Y
	Warren Garst (R) [d]	vacant
1909	Beryl F. Carroll (R)	George W. Clarke (R)		Howard Webster Byers (R)	John L. Bleakly (R)		34R, 16D	80R, 28D		Albert B. Cummins (R)
1910									Lafayette Young (R)
1911				George Cosson (R)				70R, 38D
1912									William S. Kenyon (R)			Woodrow Wilson/ Thomas R. Marshall (D)Y
1913	George W. Clarke (R)	William L. Harding (R)	William S. Allen (R)			William C. Brown (R)	33R, 17D	66R, 42D			8R, 3D
1914
1915					Frank S. Shaw (R)		35R, 15D	76R, 32D			10R, 1D
1916												Charles Evans Hughes/ Charles W. Fairbanks (R)N
1917	William L. Harding (R)	Ernest Robert Moore (R)		H. M. Havner (R)		Edwin H. Hoyt (R)	40R, 10D	94R, 14D			11R
1918
1919			Walter C. Ramsay (R)				45R, 5D	93R, 15D
1920												Warren G. Harding/ Calvin Coolidge (R)Y

1921–present

Year	Executive offices							General Assembly		United States Congress			Electoral votes
	Governor	Lt. Governor	Sec. of State	Attorney Gen.	Auditor	Treasurer	Sec. of Ag.	State Senate	State House	U.S. Senator (Class II)	U.S. Senator (Class III)	U.S. House
1921	Nathan E. Kendall (R)	John Hammill (R)	Walter C. Ramsay (R)	Ben Gibson (R)	Glenn C. Haynes (R)	William J. Burbank (R)	no such office	48R, 2D	101R, 6D, 1I	William S. Kenyon (R)	Albert B. Cummins (R)	11R
1922										Smith W. Brookhart (R)
1923							Raymond W. Cassidy (R)	46R, 4D	91R, 16D, 1I
1924					James E. Thomas (R)		R. G. Clark (R)						Calvin Coolidge/ Charles G. Dawes (R)Y
1925	John Hammill (R)	Clem F. Kimball (R)			J. C. McClune (R)	Raymond E. Johnson (R)	Mark G. Thornburg (R)	45R, 4D, 1I	101R, 7D
1926										Daniel F. Steck (D)
1927				John Fletcher (R)	J. W. Long (R)			48R, 1D, 1ID	95R, 13D		Smith W. Brookhart (R)
1928		Arch W. McFarlane (R)	Edward McMurray Smith (R)										Herbert Hoover/ Charles Curtis (R)Y
1929								48R, 2D	96R, 12D
1930
1931	Dan W. Turner (R)		G. C. Greenwalt (R)					44R, 6D	71R, 37D	L. J. Dickinson (R)		10R, 1D
1932					C. Fred Porter (R)								Franklin D. Roosevelt/ John Nance Garner (D)Y
1933	Clyde L. Herring (D)	Nelson G. Kraschel (D)	Ola Babcock Miller (D)	Edward L. O'Connor (D)	Charles W. Storms (D)	Leo J. Wegman (D)	Ray Murray (D)	25D, 25R [h]	76D, 32R		Louis Murphy (D)	6D, 3R
1934								26R, 24D [i]
1935								28D, 22R	58D, 50R
1936								26D, 24R [j]
1937	Nelson G. Kraschel (D)	John K. Valentine (D)	Robert E. O'Brien (D)	John H. Mitchell (D)			Thomas L. Curran (D)	28R, 22D	54D, 54R [k]	Clyde L. Herring (D)	Guy Gillette (D)	5D, 4R
1938								29R, 21D [l]
1939	George A. Wilson (R)	Bourke B. Hickenlooper (R)	Earl G. Miller (R)	Fred D. Everett (R)	C. B. (Chet) Akers (R)	Willis Bagley (R)	Mark G. Thornburg (R)	38R, 12D	89R, 19D			7R, 2D
1940													Wendell Willkie/ Charles L. McNary (R)N
1941				John M. Rankin (R)				45R, 5D	87R, 21D
1942												8R, 1D
1943	Bourke B. Hickenlooper (R)	Robert D. Blue (R)	Wayne M. Ropes (R)			John M. Grimes (R)	Harry D. Linn (R)		98R, 10D	George A. Wilson (R)		8R
1944													Thomas E. Dewey/ John W. Bricker (R)N
1945	Robert D. Blue (R)	Kenneth A. Evans (R)							91R, 17D		Bourke B. Hickenlooper (R)
1946
1947			Rolo H. Bergeson (R)	Robert L. Larson (R)				44R, 6D	98R, 10D
1948													Harry S. Truman/ Alben W. Barkley (D)Y
1949	William S. Beardsley (R) [m]		Melvin D. Synhorst (R)					43R, 7D	79R, 29D	Guy Gillette (D)
1950							Clyde Spry (R)
1951		William H. Nicholas (R)				M. L. Abrahamson (R)		41R, 9D	93R, 15D
1952													Dwight D. Eisenhower/ Richard Nixon (R)Y
1953		Leo Elthon (R) [d]		Leo Hoegh (R)				46R, 4D	105R, 3D
1954
1955	Leo Hoegh (R)			Dayton Countryman (R)				44R, 6D	90R, 18D	Thomas E. Martin (R)
1956
1957	Herschel C. Loveless (D)	William H. Nicholas (R)		Norman A. Erbe (R)				40R, 10D	71R, 37D			7R, 1D
1958
1959		Edward J. McManus (D)						33R, 17D	58R, 50D			4D, 4R
1960												5R, 3D	Richard Nixon/ Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. (R)N
1961	Norman A. Erbe (R)	W. L. Mooty (R)		Evan Hultman (R)			L. B. Liddy (R)	35R, 15D	78R, 30D	Jack Miller (R)		6R, 2D
1962
1963	Harold Hughes (D) [c]							38R, 12D				6R, 1D
1964													Lyndon B. Johnson/ Hubert Humphrey (D)Y
1965		Robert D. Fulton (D)	Gary L. Cameron (D)	Lawrence F. Scalise (D)	Lorne R. Worthington (D)	Paul Franzenburg (D)	Kenneth E. Owen (D)	34D, 25R	101D, 23R			6D, 1R
1966
1967			Melvin D. Synhorst (R) [n]	Richard C. Turner (R)	Lloyd R. Smith (R)		L. B. Liddy (R)	32D, 29R	89R, 35D			5R, 2D
1968													Richard Nixon/ Spiro Agnew (R)Y
1969	Robert D. Ray (R)	Roger Jepsen (R)				Maurice E. Baringer (R)		44R, 17D	86R, 38D		Harold Hughes (D)
1970
1971								38R, 12D	63R, 37D
1972
1973		Arthur Neu (R)					Robert H. Lounsberry (R)	28R, 22D	57R, 43D	Dick Clark (D)		3D, 3R
1974
1975								26D, 24R	61D, 39R		John Culver (D)	5D, 1R
1976													Gerald Ford/ Bob Dole (R)N
1977									59D, 41R			4D, 2R
1978
1979		Terry Branstad (R)		Tom Miller (D)	Richard D. Johnson (R)			28R, 22D	57R, 43D	Roger Jepsen (R)		3D, 3R
1980													Ronald Reagan/ George H. W. Bush (R)Y
1981			Mary Jane Odell (R)					29R, 21D	58R, 42D		Chuck Grassley (R)
1982
1983	Terry Branstad (R)	Robert T. Anderson (D)				Michael Fitzgerald (D)		28D, 22R	60D, 40R
1984
1985								29D, 21R		Tom Harkin (D)		4R, 2D
1986
1987		Jo Ann Zimmerman (D)	Elaine Baxter (D)				Dale M. Cochran (D)	30D, 20R	58D, 42R
1988													Michael Dukakis/ Lloyd Bentsen (D)N
1989									61D, 39R
1990
1991		Joy Corning (R)		Bonnie Campbell (D)				28D, 22R	53D, 47R
1992													Bill Clinton/ Al Gore (D)Y
1993								26D, 24R	51R, 49D			4R, 1D
1994
1995			Paul Pate (R)	Tom Miller (D)				27D, 23R	64R, 36D			5R
1996
1997								29R, 21D	54R, 46D			4R, 1D
1998
1999	Tom Vilsack (D)	Sally Pederson (D)	Chet Culver (D)				Patty Judge (D)	30R, 20D	56R, 44D
2000													Al Gore/ Joe Lieberman (D)N
2001
2002
2003					David A. Vaudt (R)			29R, 21D	54R, 46D
2004													George W. Bush/ Dick Cheney (R)Y
2005								25D, 25R	51R, 49D
2006
2007	Chet Culver (D)	Patty Judge (D)	Michael Mauro (D)				Bill Northey (R) [o]	30D, 20R	54D, 46R			3D, 2R
2008													Barack Obama/ Joe Biden (D)Y
2009								32D, 18R	57D, 43R
2010
2011	Terry Branstad (R) [p]	Kim Reynolds (R)	Matt Schultz (R)					26D, 24R	60R, 40D
2012
2013									53R, 46D, 1 vac.			2D, 2R
					Mary Mosiman (R)
2014									53R, 47D
2015			Paul Pate (R)						57R, 43D	Joni Ernst (R)		3R, 1D
2016													Donald Trump/ Mike Pence (R)Y
2017								29R, 20D, 1I	59R, 41D
	Kim Reynolds (R) [d]	Adam Gregg (R)
2018							Mike Naig (R)
2019					Rob Sand (D)			32R, 18D	53R, 47D			3D, 1R
2020													Donald Trump/ Mike Pence (R)N
2021									59R, 41D			3R, 1D
2022									60R, 40D [q]
2023				Brenna Bird (R)		Roby Smith (R)		34R, 16D [r]	64R, 36D			4R
2024													Donald Trump/ JD Vance (R)Y
2025									67R, 33D

Key to party colors and abbreviations for members of the U.S. Congress and other politicians or officials

Alaskan Independence (AKIP) Know Nothing (KN) American Labor (AL) Anti-Jacksonian (Anti-J) National Republican (NR) Anti-Administration (AA) Anti-Masonic (Anti-M) Conservative (Con) Covenant (Cov)

Democratic (D) Democratic–Farmer–Labor (DFL) Democratic–NPL (D-NPL) Dixiecrat (Dix), States' Rights (SR) Democratic-Republican (DR) Farmer–Labor (FL) Federalist (F) Pro-Administration (PA)

Free Soil (FS) Fusion (Fus) Greenback (GB) Independence (IPM) Independent Democrat (ID) Independent Republican (IR) Jacksonian (J) Liberal (Lib)

Libertarian (L) National Union (NU) Nonpartisan League (NPL) Nullifier (N) Opposition Northern (O) Opposition Southern (O) Populist (Pop) Progressive (Prog)

Prohibition (Proh) Readjuster (Rea) Republican (R) Silver (Sv) Silver Republican (SvR) Socialist (Soc) Union (U) Unconditional Union (UU)

Vermont Progressive (VP) Whig (W) Independent (I) Nonpartisan (NP)

1. The Iowa Constitution of 1857 moved the elections for state legislators from even years to odd years, making the 6th General Assembly only last one year in 1857 and the 7th last for two starting in 1858. Thus the terms of newly elected or current senators last only three years, and the terms of past or current representatives correspond to the duration of both.
2. After 137 ballots, the Republicans and the Independent Anti-Monopolists with the Democrats, struck a deal on the evening of the 22nd of January, 1874. The Republicans controlled the Speakership under John H. Gear, but the Anti-Monopolists and Democrats controlled most of the minor offices, all standing committees' membership were split 50-50 including dual chairmen, and the investigation committees were run and led by the Anti-Monopolist coalition. ^{[1] [2]}
3. Resigned to take an elected seat in the United States Senate.
4. As lieutenant governor, filled unexpired term.
5. After 137 ballots, the Republicans and Democrats came to an agreement where the Democrats got the Speakership under John T. Hamilton, while the Republicans got the seat of Speaker pro Tempore, and the committees and minor offices were split. ^{[3] [4]}
6. With a Democratic Lt. Governor in Samuel L. Bestow who was also President of the Senate, the Democrats had the tie breaking vote, chose M.J. Kelly as President Pro Tempore, and organized the chamber. ^[5]
7. A constitutional amendment in 1905 moved the elections for state legislators from odd years to even years, making the 31st General Assembly only last one year. Thus, the terms of newly elected or current senators lasted only three years, and the terms of newly elected representatives lasted only one year (except for those elected in 1906, whose terms lasted two years.
8. The Republicans acquiesced to a Democratic President Pro Tempore, Irving H. Knudson, by unanimous consent. The Senate itself was organized on mostly bipartisan lines. ^[6]
9. In district 45, Democratic Senator Harry Cook White was succeeded by Republican Richard V. Leo following a special election in 1933
10. Numerous special elections resulted in a net gain of two seats for the Republicans by the time of the 1936 election.
11. A Republican voted with the Democrats to elect a Democratic Speaker, LaMar Foster. Democrats were thus able to organize and control the House. ^[7]
12. Democratic Senator Timothy Francis "T. F." Driscoll died in early 1937. Republican Stanley Lawrence Hart was elected to succeed him.
13. Died in office.
14. Resigned.
15. Resigned after U.S. Senate confirmation as United States Under Secretary of Agriculture for Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services.
16. Resigned upon U.S. Senate confirmation to be the ambassador to China.
17. Jon Dunwell won a special election in the 29th district on October 12, 2021, flipping it from Democratic to Republican.
18. Republicans gained one seat as a result of the 2024 election, but they subsequently lost a different seat in a January 2025 special election.

References

1. Upham, Cyril B. (1919). The Speaker of the House of Representatives in Iowa. University of Iowa. pp. 42–43.
2. p. 47-53
3. p. 82-88
4. Upham, Cyril B. (1919). The Speaker of the House of Representatives in Iowa. University of Iowa. p. 43.
5. p. 59
6. p. 4-5, 74-77
7. Journal of the House of the General Assembly of the State of Iowa. Iowa General Assembly. 1937. pp. 24–25.

Further reading

• Meyer, Theodoric. "Two Iowa counties an hour apart show America’s growing political divide: Rural Decatur County has moved sharply red, while suburban Dallas County has shifted the other direction" Washington Post Jan 12, 2024, online

See also

• Governor of Iowa
• Elections in Iowa