Iowa Secretary of State releases final list of 2026 primary candidates

by Robin Opsahl, Iowa Capital Dispatch
March 16, 2026

The Iowa Secretary of State’s office Monday released the finalized list of candidates who will appear on the June 2, 2026 primary.

Candidates for state and federal offices had between Feb. 23 and March 13 to file their nomination petitions in order to appear on the ballot. Many candidates for Iowa’s highest-profile state and federal elections submitted their paperwork in the week leading up to the 5 p.m. Friday deadline, including candidates for Iowa governor.

In a statement, Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate congratulated the candidates who qualified and thanked his staff for their work in reviewing the petitions.

“There were nearly 300 Democratic and Republican candidates who qualified for the ballot this June, and I want to congratulate them for meeting the threshold and seeing their hard work pay off,” Pate said in a statement. “My staff takes the review process very seriously, and I want to thank them for their meticulous work over the past few weeks to ensure that this part of the elections process is completed accurately and transparently.”

Iowa Rep. Eddie Andrews, R-Urbandale, filed the petition signatures to secure his spot on the Republican gubernatorial primary ballot at 4:55 p.m. Friday, according to Radio Iowa, as campaign staff scrambled to organize the batches of petitions to submit to the Secretary of State’s office. In order for a candidate to qualify for the primary ballot, they must submit signatures from at least 3,500 Iowans in support of their campaign. Of those 3,500 signatures, a candidate must have at least 100 signatures from 19 different counties to qualify.

Andrews made the list released by the SOS office Monday. This means the line-up for the Republican gubernatorial ballot is expected to include Andrews, U.S. Rep. Randy Feenstra, former Iowa Department of Administrative Services director Adam Steen, Zach Lahn, a businessman who has worked for Americans for Prosperity and former state lawmaker Brad Sherman.

While two Democratic gubernatorial candidates submitted paperwork, only one candidate appears to have qualified for the primary ballot. Auditor Rob Sand submitted 24,756 signatures Monday — a number his campaign said breaks records formerly set for the gubernatorial race by Gov. Kim Reynolds and the overall record set by U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst.

On Thursday, Democrat Julie Stauch, a former political operative, filed her paperwork at the SOS office, where she told reporters she submitted 4,575 signatures.

But on Friday, Stauch said in a statement posted to social media that the office informed her that her campaign did not meet the requirement for a minimum of 100 signatures from at least 19 counties.

“This afternoon I had a call from the Iowa Secretary of State’s election office telling me that my petitions did not meet the requirements during their review,” Stauch wrote. “Two counties had several problems which led to numbers below the 100 threshold required. Therefore, my name will not be on the June primary ballot.”

The staff at the Secretary of State’s office does two counts of signatures submitted through nomination paperwork to verify candidates’ eligibility for the ballot.

Here is the list of candidates eligible for the ballot, as of Monday at 4:19 p.m.: 2026 Primary – Candidate List Database – All Elections_12

While the list released Monday represents the final total of candidates who have qualified for the ballot, there could still be some candidates deemed ineligible through the objections process.

Iowans who are eligible to vote for the candidate running for an office have the ability to submit challenges to candidates’ nomination papers. These challenges can be heard by the State Objections Panel, which consists of the secretary of state, state auditor and attorney general. If the nomination of any of the panel’s members are challenged — or if there are challenges to other candidates in their race — a different statewide elected official would take their place as outlined by state law.

Objections must be submitted by March 20, 2026 for candidates appearing on the June primary ballot.

Iowa Capital Dispatch is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Iowa Capital Dispatch maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Kathie Obradovich for questions: [email protected].