Starting Line’s Coverage Of Iowa Primary Results

By Pat Rynard

June 5, 2018

For this evening’s Democratic primary election results, Starting Line will be using this page to keep you updated on all the major developments. I’ll be filling in results and add a little bit of commentary for the key races below as the numbers come in. I will also have individual stories that I’ll post separately on. Just keep refreshing this page and watch our social media feeds. Forgive any of the awkward formatting below.

Governor’s Race

Fred Hubbell has won (see story here), and may end up with over 50% of the vote statewide. He’s currently at 58% of the vote in Polk County with nearly all of the county’s precincts reporting. He handily won Cathy Glasson’s home county of Johnson County with 44% of the vote to her 30%. It’s difficult to tell how the rural counties are going so far, but that is more than enough of a trend and lead in key counties for Hubbell to win.

Secretary Of State Race

It’s very close. It appears the Deidre DeJear is up 52% to 48% at 10:20 this evening. She seems to be doing better in Eastern Iowa, while Jim Mowrer is doing well in the parts of the state he ran for office before. This one could come down to the wire.

1st District Primary

Abby Finkenauer has scored a crushing victory, with it looking like she’ll end up with over 60% of the vote. See story here.

3rd District Primary

Cindy Axne emerged victorious from the three-person Democratic primary. With nearly all of Polk County’s precincts reporting, she led 57% to Eddie Mauro’s 28% and Pete D’Alessandro’s 15%. That’s an insurmountable lead to make up in the rest of the district considering Polk County’s huge voter total.

4th District Primary

J.D. Scholten will face off against Steve King in November. He’s winning 52% of the vote to Leann Jacobsen’s 29% and John Paschen’s 18%.

Republican Secretary of Agriculture

Mike Naig and Dan Zumbach are leading the pack. Naig is pushing 35%.

Key Iowa Senate Primaries

SD 37 – Zach Wahls, Janice Weiner, Eric Dirth, Imad Youssif

Wahls will enter the Iowa Senate as its youngest member by far. He cruised to a victory in the race to replace Bob Dvorsky in the Iowa Senate, winning around 63% of the vote. Janice Weiner had run a very strong campaign, but Wahls’ well-funded campaign and his personal appeal as a new generation of leadership won the day.

SD 21 – Claire Celsi and Connie Ryan

The activist crowd outworked the Capitol crowd in the campaign to fill Matt McCoy’s seat in the Iowa Senate. Claire Celsi won the primary here over Connie Ryan 57% to 42%, thanks in part to a very strong showing in the West Des Moines side of the district. Celsi had a large activist and volunteer base still engaged from her run for the Iowa House against Peter Cownie in 2016.

SD 41 – Ed Malloy and Mary Stewart

Mary Stewart can run a campaign. She’s getting over 70% of the vote with 3/4 of the precincts in. This was a very competitive primary that Stewart just won in a landslide. That’s a good sign for her strength in the general to win back this Ottumwa-based seat for Democrats.

SD 1 – Brad Price, Zach Whiting, Jesse Wolfe (Republicans)

 

Key Iowa House Primaries

HD 99 – Lindsay James, Brad Cavanagh, Pat Cullen

It appears that Lindsay James will succeed Abby Finkenauer in the Iowa House. She has 55% of the vote to Brad Cavanagh’s 40%. It’s not entirely clear if that’s all the precincts, but the overall vote total is high, so it appears so.

HD 68 – Molly Donahue and Scott Foens

Molly Donahue won a large victory over Scott Foens, 66% to 29%. She will get another try at winning the suburban Linn County seat for Democrats.

HD 57 – Nancy Fett and Leo Gansen

These two Democrats are locked in a very close race for the rural Dubuque seat and the right to take on Shannon Lundgren. Nancy Fett was leading Leo Gansen 51% to 49%, and it’s not clear how much of the vote is in, though it seems like most of it.

HD 83 – Michael Hardy, Jeff Kurtz, Bob Morawitz

Jeff Kurtz won this one.

HD 38 – Heather Matson and Reyma McCoy McDeid

Matson very easily won her shot at a second try to defeat Kevin Koester in one of the Ankeny-based Iowa House seats. She had 80% of the vote in the primary with all precincts reporting.

Other Notable Races

Mike Carberry lost his reelection to the Johnson County supervisors.

Des Moines Supervisor Race

Current State Senator Matt McCoy handily defeated incumbent Supervisor Johnny Mauro in this very contentious Des Moines-based race. McCoy was up 69% to 31% with just a few precincts out.

Turnout Observations

Democrats are already up to 160,000 total turnout with about 75% of the precincts reporting. The previous record was 150,000 in 2006. That is absolutely incredible.

 

by Pat Rynard
Posted 6/5/18

  • Pat Rynard

    Pat Rynard founded Iowa Starting Line in 2015. He is now Courier Newsroom's National Political Editor, where he oversees political reporters across the country. He still keeps a close eye on Iowa politics, his dog's name is Frank, and football season is his favorite time of year.

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