Iowa House Election Recap

**Update #2**

Democrats lost the race in HD 36. Nick Wagner defeated Gretchen Lawyer and will replace Swati Dandekar, who was elected to the State Senate.

**Update #1**

I failed to notice that Kerry Burt defeated incumbent Tami Wiencek in HD 21, so I have added that.

Democrats held a 53-47 lead in the Iowa House coming into the election. They ended up picking up 6 seats. Sharon Steckman (HD 13), John Beard (HD 16), and Larry Marek (HD 89) won in open seats. Gene Ficken knocked off incumbent Dan Rassmussen in HD 23, Phyllis Theide beat incumbent Jamie Van Fossen, and Kerry Burt beat incumbent Tami Wiencek in Waterloo by 147 votes, 50.6% to 49.4%.

Democrats failed to protect 3 seats. The surprise of the election was the news that Mark Davitt lost in HD 75 by just 69 votes. There are some conflicting vote totals in this race, so we might not know who won until the official canvass is completed.

In HD Art Staed lost by only 33 votes. We can hope there are enough absentee ballots still to come in to over turn these results. They failed to protect Dandekar's seat, who won her State Senate race.

There were 2 House incumbents that were thought to have been defeated that ended up winning. At around 11:00, I saw Elesha Gayman was done 53% to 47% with all of the precincts reporting. However, she ended up winning by 800 votes! In Sioux City, Wes Whitehead was losing, but with all of the numbers in he is up by a mere 6 votes.

Iowa House
Democrats Picked up 5 seats

HD 13 Steckman - Tornquist
Steckman has won 57%-43%

HD 16 Beard - Schissel
Beard won with 56% of the vote.

HD 23 Ficken - Rasmussen
Ficken won 52.6% to 47.4%.

HD 81 Thiede - Van Fossen
Theide won big with that final precinct reporting to claim a 55.6% - 44.4% victory.

HD 89 Marek - Klein
All precincts in and Marek's up 160 votes, 50.6% - 49.4%.

Democrats Failed to pick up

HD 39 Hertle - Pettengill
Pettengill, who switched parties in 2007, won 54.6% - 46.4%.

HD 44 Hoy -Sweeney
Sweeney won 54% to 46%.

HD 59 Sullivan - Hagenow
With all precincts reporting Sullivan is down by 141 votes. Possible recount maybe.

Incumbents who lost

HD 37 - Art Staed
Final numbers show Staed has lost, but it is by a narrow margin (33 votes) and there may be enough absentee ballots still coming in to overcome it.

Incumbents that won tight races

HD 1 - Wes Whitehead
Rumors were swirling that Whitehead was beaten, but the final numbers show him up by 6 votes. A recount is a definite possibility.

HD 75 - Eric Palmer
Palmer won with 54%.

HD 84 - Elesha Gayman
Elesha has lost 53.6% to 46.4% Hold on here, now the Register is showing Elesha up by 800 votes! Go Elesha!

HD 100 - Paul Shomshor
Shomshor was being targetted by the American Future Fund during the final weeks of the election and he won 52.2% to 47.8%.

Iowa House total as of now: Democrats 56-44

Expanding the Majority: John Beard in House District 16

Iowa Democrats have a great chance to expand their majority in the Iowa House. Democrats currently hold a 53-47 advantage. With just over 2 weeks left until the election, it is critical to support strong progressive candidates in these close races.

This week I will be featuring some great candidates throughout the state that are in tight races and asking for donations through the Iowa Blogs Expanding the Majority Act Blue page. Please consider donating however much you can afford to help out these great candidates.

The first featured candidate is John Beard in House District 16, which includes Allamakee and part of Winneshiek County in northeast corner of Iowa. Beard is running in an open seat to replace the retiring Chuck Gipp.

I am supporting John because he has advocated for one of my top issues throughout his campaign. Beard supports clean elections and the VOICE bill, saying that it is a key to restoring accountability in our government.

We must adopt public financing of campaigns, or voter-owned clean elections. In the seven states which have them, they have been proven to restore accountability, to bring a focus on the common good, and to renew participation in the democratic process. Greater participation not only strengthens our democracy but improves almost every process we undertake.

John Beard is running to give common Iowans their VOICE back in Des Moines. Please support John by donating today.

A couple weeks the Iowa Blogs Expanding the Majority Act Blue page surpassed the $1,000 mark. We have a goal of 20 donors by the end of the month.

Please consider donating John and these great candidates today and help expand the Democratic majority in the Iowa House.