Insurance Agent Wins Iowa State Senate Seat

December 17, 2021

An Iowa insurance agent has overwhelmingly won a state Senate seat in a northwest Iowa special election.

Spirit Lake insurance agent Dave Rowley, a Republican, won the special election Tuesday to fill the Senate District 1 set vacated by Zach Whiting, a Republican who is leaving Iowa for a job in Texas. Rowley is an agent for Blum & Leonard Insurance and Real Estate.

Turnout was extremely low. Data from the Iowa Secretary of State shows just 3,559 of the 45,456 registered voters in the five counties of the district cast ballots, for a voter turnout of 7.8%.

Rowley won with 2,690 votes, or nearly 76%. Democrat Mark Lemke had 864 votes, or 24%.

Rowley will be sworn in on Jan. 10, the first day of the 2022 legislative session.

Republican continue to hold a significant majority with 32 Senate seats to Democrats’ 18. In the House, the GOP margin is 60 Republican seats and 40 Democratic seats.

Topics Agencies Iowa Politics

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