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A Democrat easily won a special election in a deep-red Iowa state Senate district on Tuesday, raising serious concerns for Republicans in the state and across the country.
According to unofficial reports from the Woodbury County Auditor’s Office, Democrat Catelin Drey, a 37-year-old activist for abortion rights and gun control, soundly defeated Republican Christopher Prosch for the open District 1 Senate seat, representing the Sioux City area, 55% to 44%. President Donald Trump carried Woodbury County by 23 points less than 10 months ago.
'Last night, we suffered quite the L in the most Republican part of Iowa.'
Once Drey is sworn into office, Republicans will no longer hold a supermajority in the Iowa Senate as they have had for the past three years.
"I’m just really incredibly honored that the folks in Senate District 1 believed in this campaign as much as the team did, and I am looking forward to representing them well," Drey told the Des Moines Register.
Other leftists in politics and the media crowed much more loudly, flaunting the results as a harbinger of things to come in the 2026 midterms and beyond.
"Iowans are seeing Republicans for who they are: self-serving liars who will throw their constituents under the bus to rubber stamp Donald Trump’s disastrous agenda — and they’re ready for change," said a statement from DNC Chairman Ken Martin, according to Fox News.
"Our state is ready for a new direction and Iowa Democrats will keep putting forward candidates who can deliver better representation for Iowans," added a statement from Iowa Democratic Party Chair Rita Hart.
"Every special election is a snapshot of voter energy. And the picture emerging in 2025 suggests a Democratic Party building toward something larger — perhaps a blue wave in 2026," gloated MeidasTouch News.
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A few Republicans tried to shrug the loss off. Republican Party of Iowa Chair Jeff Kaufmann, for instance, even seemed to suggest that Democrats cared more about winning the race than his party did.
"National Democrats were so desperate for a win that they activated 30,000 volunteers and a flood of national money to win a state senate special election by a few hundred votes," Kaufmann said in a statement, according to the Register. "If the Democrats think things are suddenly so great again for them in Iowa, they will bring back the caucuses."
However, others like BlazeTV host Steve Deace are taking the results very seriously. "Last night, we suffered quite the L in the most Republican part of Iowa. The kind of special election loss that should be a wake-up call for Republicans nationwide," he told Blaze News.
"Trump won Woodbury County, which dominates this district, by 23 points in '24. Yet, we lost this special election by nine points. That is quite the ominous swing. It doesn’t matter how bad Democrats image polling is if we can’t motivate our own voters to show up when Trump isn't on the ballot."
Gov. Kim Reynolds (R) called the special election after Republican state Sen. Rocky De Witt died of pancreatic cancer in June. De Witt won the 2022 District 1 Senate race by 10 points.
Drey's victory marks the second unexpected Democrat win in Iowa in 2025. Back in January, Democrat state Sen. Mike Zimmer won a special election in Senate District 35 in Eastern Iowa, which Trump carried by over 20 points in November.
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