Democrats have flipped an Iowa state Senate seat in a district that overwhelmingly voted for President Trump in November.
Democrat Mike Zimmer, who has worked in education and serves as the president of a school board, defeated Republican Kate Whittington by about 3.5 points to represent state Senate District 35, which voted for Trump by 21 points in 2024.
The special election was held to fill the seat vacated by Lt. Gov. Chris Cournoyer (R), who resigned from her seat in December to become the second-highest official in the state under Gov. Kim Reynolds (R). Zimmer will now serve for the remainder of Cournoyer’s term until 2026.
“Our campaign’s values of hard work and fairness resonated with a bipartisan coalition of voters in Clinton, Jackson and Scott counties,” Zimmer said in a statement, according to the Des Moines Register. “I’m looking forward to working on behalf of the people of Eastern Iowa to help…
