The Iowa State Capitol (Photo by Perry Beeman/Iowa Capital Dispatch)
DES MOINES, Iowa (KELO.com) — Republicans said early Wednesday they would keep their trifecta hold on the Iowa Statehouse.
House Speaker Pat Grassley announced early Wednesday that the GOP had expanded its majority to 59 seats after flipping seven Democrat-held seats and re-electing all Republican incumbents. The results are unofficial.
“Tonight’s election results demonstrate that Iowans strongly support the direction of our state under Republican leadership,” Grassley said in a news release. “Voters know that they can trust House Republicans to handle their taxpayer dollars responsibly, jumpstart our economy, and return to normalcy as quickly as possible.”
Democrats would have needed to flip four seats while successfully defending their House incumbents to gain the chamber majority. Instead, they lost six Democratic incumbents and an open seat previously held by a Democrat.
- Republican Brooke Boden defeated Democratic incumbent Scott Ourth in House District 26.
- Republican Garrett Gobble defeated incumbent Democrat Heather Matson in House District 38.
- Republican Eddie Andrews defeated incumbent Democrat Karin Derry in House District 39.
- Republican Steve Bradley defeated incumbent Democrat Andy McKean in House District 58.
- Republican Chad Ingels defeated Democrat Jodi Grover in House District 64, an open seat.
- Republican Cherielynn Westrich defeated incumbent Democrat Mary Gaskill in House District 81.
- Republican Martin Graber defeated incumbent Democrat Jeff Kurtz in House District 83.
- Republicans were also on track to keep their 31-18 majority in the Iowa Senate.
“That’s a mandate,” Senate Majority Leader Jack Whitver, R-Ankeny, said at the Republicans’ election-night party in Des Moines.
He also pointed to the GOP’s wins in the metro Des Moines area. “When the national narrative says we’ve lost the suburbs — not in Iowa, we still have the suburbs,” Whitver said.
The Senate was not considered likely to change party control, but Democrats had seen an opportunity to take over the House control.
(Kathie Obradovich with the Iowa Capital Dispatch contributed this report. The story first appeared here in the ICD.)
