Just shy of two weeks after adjournment of the 2022 Iowa legislative session, the attention of the political world (and for those on the ballot, hopefully, enough voters to keep them on the ballot in the general election) turns squarely to today’s primaries. In Iowa and six other states across the nation, primaries set the matchups for the fall general election and could end the careers of some incumbents.
Polls opened at 7 a.m. and close at 8 p.m. across the state. You can find your polling place at https://voterready.iowa.gov/. When you show up, be sure you have your ID. If you requested a mail-in ballot, it is recommended you drop it off at your county auditor’s office instead of mailing it to ensure your mail-in ballot is received and counted.
At this time, the likely prognosis in Iowa is that regardless of the outcome of the primary elections, control of the Governor’s office, both chambers in the statehouse, and the Congressional delegation will remain in Republican hands. In fact, conventional wisdom, early polling numbers, and historic performance in midterm elections have the Republicans picking up seats in both statehouse chambers and Congress.
Cook Political Reporter (posted May 26, 2022) has classified all three of Iowa’s Congressional seats held by a Republican as “Likely Republican” and the 3rd Congressional District, currently represented by Iowa’s only Democrat in Congress as “Toss Up.” Senator Grassley’s seat is also classified as “likely Republican.”
There is a Democrat and Republican primary for U.S. Senate, a Republican primary for the U.S. 3rd Congressional District (Congresswoman Axne’s seat), two primaries across the statewide races, and 40 contested primary races in the House and the Senate. It is likely that several of multi-candidate races will go to convention if no candidate receives at least 35% of the vote.
Below is a brief overview of the Iowa June Primary. We will provide an update with the official candidate roster once the results are final.
Federal
| U.S. Senate (Senator Grassley) |
| Senator Grassley (R) Jim Carlin (R) |
| Abby Finkenauer (D) Michael Franken (D) Glen Hurst (D) |
| U.S. Congress 3rd District (Congresswoman Axne) |
| Nicole Hasson (R) Gary Leffler (R) Zach Nunn (R) |
State
| State Auditor (Rob Sand) |
| Todd Halbur (R) Mary Ann Hanusa (R) |
| Secretary of State (Paul Pate) |
| Joel Miller (D) Eric Van Lanker (D) |
State Legislature
Senate
In the Senate, 34 seats are up for election. All of the odd-numbered seats, and new districts 4, 6, 14, 16, 30, 40, 42, 44, and 46.
Republicans have contested primaries in six races and Democrats have contested primaries in five races, see below.
Democrats – 17, 37, 39, 41, and 25 (blue)
House
All 100 seats in the Iowa House are up for reelection. Republicans have 20 races with primaries, nine of those primaries involve incumbents. Three of the nine primaries that involve an incumbent have incumbents running against each other: HD 53, HD 66, and HD 87.
| HD 4 |
| Rep. Skyler Wheeler (R) Kendyl Zylstra (R) |
| HD 5 |
| Rep. Dennis Bush (R) Zachary Dieken (R) Thomas Kupier (R) |
| HD 15 |
| Rep. Matt Windschitl (R) Rebecca Wilkerson (R) |
| HD 37 |
| Rep. Jon Thorup (R) Barb-Kniff McCulla |
| HD 43 |
| Rep. Eddie Andrews Brett Nelson |
| HD 53 |
| Rep. Dean Fisher (R) Rep. Dave Maxwell (R) |
| HD 66 |
| Rep. Steve Bradley (R) Rep. Lee Hein (R) |
| HD 87 |
| Rep. Joe Mitchell (R) Rep. Jeff Shipley (R) |
| HD 88 |
| Rep. Dustin Hite (R) Helena Hayes |
Republicans – 4, 5, 13, 15, 17, 20, 25, 26, 37, 43, 46, 53, 54, 56, 58, 60, 66, 72, 76, 81, 87, 88, 91, 92, 99
House Democrats have eight primaries, none of which involve incumbents. Two open House seats have primaries with more than two candidates: HD 36 in Des Moines has a six-candidate primary, and HD 90 in Iowa City has a three-candidate primary.
