Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds announced the special election to fill the seat left by Sen. Rocky De Witt, R-Lawton, who passed away in June, will take place Aug. 26.
De Witt, 66, died following a battle with pancreatic cancer on June 25. He was elected in 2022 to the Iowa Senate to represent Senate District 1, representing a section of Woodbury County including Sioux City and Lawton. He defeated the incumbent Democrat, Sen. Jackie Smith, D-Sioux City for the position. Prior to serving in the Legislature, he served on the Woodbury County Board of Supervisors.
The August special election to fill the seat will elect a person to serve out the remainder of De Witt’s term, until January 2027. The candidates in the race have not yet been chosen — before the election, the state Democratic and Republican parties will convene district nominating conventions and have delegates select party nominees for the seat.
This special election will be the fourth this year for Iowa legislative seats.
In January, Sen. Mike Zimmer, D-DeWitt, defeated Republican Katie Whittington in the race to replace Lt. Gov. Chris Cournoyer, who resigned from her position after becoming lieutenant governor in December 2024. Rep. Blaine Watkins, R-Donnellson, won in a March special election, filling a seat in House District 100 following the unexpected death of Rep. Martin Graber, R-Fort Madison. And in April, Rep. Angelina Ramirez, D-Cedar Rapids, won a special election filling the seat left by former Rep. Sami Scheetz after he resigned to serve on the Linn County Board of Supervisors.
While Republicans hold supermajorities in both chambers of the Legislature, Democrats have done better than expected in 2025 special elections. Zimmer’s victory was in an area formerly represented by a Republican, Cournoyer, who was elected in 2018 and reelected with 61% of the vote in 2023. While Watkins, a Republican, won in House District 100, he won with 51.5% against Democrat Nannette Griffins’ 48.2% — a much closer margin of victory than Graber’s 2024 election win of 67.9% against independent Nicolas Atwood.
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