As we saw over the last couple of years, voters gave the edge to Democrats in special elections, but not so much in the general election. The first half of that predilection is continuing:
Iowa Democrats have flipped a state Senate seat vacated earlier this year by Chris Cournoyer [(R-IA)], who resigned to become the state’s new lieutenant governor.
Democrat Mike Zimmer has defeated Republican Kate Whittington in the special election for Senate District 35.
According to unofficial results from the Iowa Secretary of State’s website, Zimmer won with 52% of the vote to Whittington’s 48%. [Des Moines Register]
Cournoyer, incidentally, won this seat 61% to 39% in November. And who won this district in the Presidential election? From Sioux County Radio:
Democrat wins Iowa Senate seat in district Trump won by 21 points
What does it mean? Perhaps the Republican candidate is deeply repellent, perhaps the Democratic candidate is a local hero.
To read the goat entrails too deeply is to commit confirmation bias. This could be nothing. Or it could be the first sign of the fall of the 2024 November victors. But the signal is weak.
