Democrats flipped a state Senate seat in an Iowa district that President Donald Trump won by 11 points in 2024 in a victory that also breaks a Republican supermajority in the chamber.
Democratic candidate Catelin Drey defeated Republican Christopher Prosch in a special election held on Tuesday to replace state Sen. Rocky De Witt (R), who died in June.
Preliminary results show Drey winning 55% of the vote, versus 44% for Prosch, a 22-point reversal of the 2024 results and the first Democratic victory in the district in more than 15 years.
“Catelin Drey will listen to the people, not the powerful, get our economy growing, and bring down costs for families,” Iowa Democratic Party Chair Rita Hart said in a statement posted on social media. “Our state is ready for a new direction and Iowa Democrats will keep putting forward candidates who can deliver better representation for Iowans.”
It’s the second state Senate special election in Iowa this year. The previous election, in February, saw Democrats flip a seat in a district Trump had won by 21 points.
While Democrats remain by far the minority party in the Iowa Legislature, Drey’s election does mean the loss of the GOP supermajority in the Senate. Iowa Republicans have used their supermajority to push new restrictions on abortion, immigration and transgender issues, The New York Times reported.
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