Iowa special election on Tuesday could give Republicans supermajority
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Democrats’ last trump card in the Iowa Senate is at stake Tuesday; Republicans are poised to capture a supermajority that would allow GOP leaders to govern with little resistance.
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The Iowa State Capitol building is seen on October 9, 2019 in Des Moines, Iowa. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
Democratic nominee Renee Hardman will face Republican Lucas Loftin in the Iowa Senate District 16 race to fill the seat of the late Sen. Claire Celsi, who died of undisclosed medical complications in October.
Democrat Celsi had been in the Iowa Senate since 2019.
Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds, who controls two-thirds of the Assembly, could make appointments to state institutions more easily. Without that, they need the help of at least one Democrat to confirm their candidacy.
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Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds participates in a panel discussion at the Republican Governors Association conference on November 15, 2022 in Orlando, Florida. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack)
This single vote gives Democrats rare power in the Hawkeye State.
Democrats, who are now in danger of losing their seat in the Senate, also find themselves dwarfed in the state’s House of Representatives, where Republicans hold 66 of the chamber’s 100 seats. Meanwhile, Democrats hold just 33.
There is an empty seat in the hall.
At the federal level, Republicans hold all four of Iowa’s House districts and seats in the U.S. Senate. Democrats in particular will seek to mount a competitive Senate race in 2026 to replace retiring Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa.
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Senator Joni Ernst, a Republican from Iowa, introduced the McSCUSE ME Act on November 20, 2025, to address SNAP benefits. (Daniel Heuer/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Democrats narrowly avoided a Republican edge in another special election in August. Tuesday will mark Iowa’s sixth special election of the year.
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Polls will open at 7 a.m. on Tuesday, December 30th and close at 8 p.m.
