Week in Iowa: Recap of news from across the state

Republicans win big in Iowa: Republicans won big in Iowa’s election Tuesday, sweeping Iowa’s four congressional races and winning all but one statewide office. Democratic State Auditor Rob Sand had a slight edge in unofficial results Thursday.

Republicans also picked up seats in the state Senate and House, and are on track to form a supermajority in the Iowa Senate. With two-thirds of the chamber, Republicans have a veto-proof majority and can prevent Democrats from blocking gubernatorial appointments to state boards. Republicans celebrated the win as a reinforcement that their message resonates with Iowa’s voter base.

Reynolds given a second term: Gov. Kim Reynolds, a Republican, was elected to a second full term, beating Democratic challenger Deidre DeJear by 18.6 percentage points. Reynolds promised to continue to pursue her main agenda items, including cutting taxes and shifting millions in taxpayer funding to private school tuition assistance.

Reynolds increased her margin of victory from 2018 by nearly 8 percentage points, and she flipped seven counties that voted for the Democrat in that election. DeJear won a majority of support in Johnson, Polk, Linn and Story counties.

Grassley elected to eighth term: U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley won an eighth term in the U.S. Senate, besting Democratic challenger Mike Franken. While his lead was in the double digits, it still was Grassley’s closest Senate election since 1980, when he beat incumbent Democrat John Culver by 8 percentage points.

Grassley will return to the Senate as the longest-serving sitting senator and will be the top Republican on the Judiciary Committee. If Republicans manage to gain control of the Senate, he will also be president pro tempore, placing him third in line for the presidency. Grassley promised to continue pursuing conservative fiscal policies and said he would be a check on President Joe Biden’s administration.

Reporting, ballot mistakes in multiple counties: Issues with vote counting delayed unofficial results, and some ballot issues were reported during Iowa's election Tuesday.

In Linn County, the Board of Supervisors race was left off the ballot in Putnam Township, affecting an area with 536 registered voters. The mistake could be the first test of a state law that holds county auditors criminally liable for some election mistakes. Linn County Auditor Joel Miller was the Democratic candidate for secretary of state challenging incumbent Paul Pate.

In Warren and Des Moines counties, Pate ordered an administrative recount of ballots due to “technical problems.” In Davenport, poll workers Tuesday mistakenly handed out the wrong ballot to 47 voters. The ballots contained the wrong state legislative races, according to the Scott County auditor.

They said ...

“I am so excited to get back to work and to lay out a bold, conservative agenda and to follow through on what we say we are going to do. It is going to be an agenda where you keep more of your money, where our schools are thriving and all parents have choice.” — Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds after winning reelection

“I am extremely proud of the progress we have been able to make. While we came up short in this campaign cycle for this specific campaign, we came up short with the numbers, I say we won as it related to progress.” — Democrat Deidre DeJear after losing her bid for governor.

Odds and ends

Senate president defeated: Sarah Trone Garriott defeated Iowa Senate President Jake Chapman in a Dallas County-area Senate contest that was among the most expensive Legislature races of 2022. Chapman drew criticism in 2021 for saying some media members and teachers have a “sinister agenda” to normalize sexual behavior in schools.

Amy Sinclair to be Senate president: Iowa Senate Republicans elected Amy Sinclair of Allerton to be the next Senate president, after current president Jake Chapman lost his bid for reelection. Sinclair has held positions as majority whip and chair of the Education Committee.

Zach Nunn ousts sole congressional Democrat: In a bellwether contest of Democrats’ strength in Iowa, Republican Zach Nunn defeated incumbent Democrat Cindy Axne by less than a percentage point Tuesday. Nunn leaned heavily on the Republicans’ economic message during his campaign, blaming congressional Democrats for record-high inflation.

Water cooler

COVID cases tick up: Iowa’s new COVID-19 cases increased slightly in the week ending Wednesday, up to 1,863 from 1,827 the previous week. Hospitalizations increased from 161 to 180 in the same week. To date, Iowa has reported 866,615 cases of COVID-19, according to state numbers.

Woman who killed rapist escapes, returns: Pieper Lewis, who was being held on probation after killing a man who had raped her, escaped a Des Moines women’s shelter where she was serving her probation and was booked back in jail Tuesday. The 18-year-old was sentenced to five years’ probation in the center rather than being sentenced to prison after a highly publicized trial, and could now face a prison term.