Democrats Flip Key Seat in Iowa Special Election, Sending 2026 Warning Shot to Republicans
Iowa Democrats have wiped away the Republican supermajority in the state Senate with their latest special election victory.
Democrat Catelin Drey won the special election for the district centered around Sioux City over Republican opponent Christopher Prosch, according to NBC.
The election was called to fill the seat of the late Republican state Sen. Rocky De Witt, who passed away in June.
Democrats will hold 17 seats in the Senate. The GOP will hold 33 seats.
In a post on X, VoteHub noted the significance of the vote, which ended in a nine-point margin of victory for Drey.
“The district was Trump +11, so this is a 20 point overperformance vs. 2024,” the post noted.
Democrats have FLIPPED Iowa SD-1 and broken the Republicans’ supermajority in the state Senate.
With almost all votes in:
🔵 Catelin Drey (D) – 54.5% (3,978) ✅
🔴 Christopher Prosch (R) – 45.5% (3,318)The district was Trump +11, so this is a 20 point overperformance vs. 2024.
— VoteHub (@VoteHubUS) August 27, 2025
The contest was the fourth special election of the year. Democrats won a state Senate special election in January and a state House special election in June. Republicans narrowly won one state House race, according to the Iowa Capital Dispatch.
“For the fourth special election in a row, Iowa voted for change,” Iowa Democratic Party Chair Rita Hart said in a statement. “Catelin Drey will listen to the people, not the powerful, get our economy growing, and bring down costs for families.”
Democrats said the contest could be a harbinger of what is to come in the 2026 midterm elections.
Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin said the results show Iowa voters are against President Donald Trump.
Iowa voters, he said, “are putting Republicans on notice and making it crystal clear: any Republican pushing Trump’s unpopular, extreme agenda has no place governing on behalf of Iowa families.”
Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee President Heather Williams said Tuesday’s results “should send a flashing warning to the GOP.”
“State legislative Democrats are delivering progress, responding to their communities’ concerns about the chaos in Washington, and providing the steady leadership voters are asking for — leadership that has propelled candidates like Sen.-elect Catelin Drey to victory this year,” Williams said.
“Voters are rejecting the failing MAGA agenda and leaving Republican candidates in the dust,” she said, according to the Des Moines Register.
State Republican Party Chair Jeff Kaufmann said Democrats poured in national support and spent thousands only to win by 800 votes.
“National Democrats were so desperate for a win that they activated 30,000 volunteers and a flood of national money to win a state senate special election by a few hundred votes,” he said.
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