Maddow Blog | In 2025 special elections, voters keep telling Republicans what they don’t want to hear

As 2025 got underway, there was a closely watched state Senate special election in Iowa, in a race Republicans expected to win. It was, after all, held in a district that Donald Trump had won a few ... Read More

Iowa has become an increasingly Republican state since 2012. Here are some of the stories behind that conservative shift

Since 2016, thousands of Iowans have shifted away from the Democratic Party as the state morphed from purple -- a mix of support for Democrats and Republicans -- to a ruby red Republican stronghold. Read More

Key takeaways from Tuesday’s special elections in Iowa and Georgia

Democrats continued their winning streak in key special elections this year with another victory in a contested state Senate seat in Iowa. The party eyed the seat as a pickup opportunity to break up ... Read More

Ernst’s decision against re-election bid overhauls shape of Iowa’s 2026 elections

Iowa will now have open-seat elections for governor and the U.S. Senate for the first time in nearly six decades, and half of the state's federal delegation likely will feature new representation ... Read More

Special election win spurs excitement among Iowa Democrats, but Republicans in the state are confident

Iowa Democrats haven't had much to cheer in recent years. But a string of strong performances in special legislative elections this year — vastly outdoing 2024 Democratic presidential nominee Kamala ... Read More

Democrats break GOP supermajority in Iowa Senate by flipping Republican seat in special election

Catelin Drey's win gives her party an additional seat, bringing the number of Democrats in the upper chamber to 17 and breaking Republicans' two-thirds supermajority. Read More

Democrat Catelin Drey wins Iowa Senate special election, breaking Republican supermajority

With Drey's win, Democrats now hold 17 seats in the 50-member Senate to Republicans' 33 seats — enough to break the two-thirds supermajority the GOP has enjoyed since the 2022 election ... so great ... Read More

In 2025 special elections, voters keep telling Republicans what they don’t want to hear

As 2025 got underway, there was a closely watched state Senate special election in Iowa, in a race Republicans expected to win. It was, after all, held in a district that Donald Trump had won a few ... Read More