Northwest Iowa — Here are the election results that we have.
It does appear to have been a “red wave,” in Iowa at least. In Tuesday’s election, Republicans either kept or gained all but one position. With 97 out of 99 counties reporting, Republican Senator Chuck Grassley has defeated Democrat Michael Franken. Our area’s Republican Congressman Randy Feenstra soundly defeated Democratic challenger Ryan Melton. Meanwhile, Mariannette Miller-Meeks and Ashley Hinson retain their seats, and Republican challenger Zach Nunn appears to have narrowly defeated incumbent Democrat Cindy Axne in District 3.
For state offices, incumbent Republicans Governor Kim Reynolds and Lt. Governor Adam Greg have defeated Democratic challengers Deidre DeJear and Eric Van Lancker. Republican Secretary of State Paul Pate and Republican Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig retained their seats, while Republican challenger Roby Smith has defeated Democratic Iowa Treasurer Michael Fitzgerald and Brenna Bird has defeated Democratic Attorney General Tom Miller.
The one exception to the state office “red wave” is that Democratic State Auditor Rob Sand looks to have defeated Republican Challenger Todd Halbur by a slim margin.
Candidates for many of the county and state offices, while they may have had primary opponents, ran unopposed in the general election.
As for the State Senate, Lyon and Sioux counties are part of the new District 2, where Jeff Taylor did not need to run this time, so he stays in place, even through redistricting. Osceola and O’Brien counties are part of the new District 3, where Lynn Evans ran unopposed.
For the State House of Representatives, Lyon County and northern Sioux County make up the new District 4, where Skyler Wheeler ran unopposed. Southern Sioux County is part of the new District 3, where Thomas Jeneary ran unopposed. Osceola and O’Brien counties are part of the new District 5, where Zach Dieken ran unopposed.
Contested county races and issues in our four counties included —
In Osceola County, for Board of Supervisors District 1, Republican incumbent LeRoy De Boer defeated (no party) David Henningsen 188 to 156.
For Public Measure B, which was a question asking if Osceola County should declare Emergency Medical Services an essential service and levy a tax to pay for it — 1450 people voted yes and 754 voted no. The measure needed a 60 percent supermajority to pass, and it appears to have done so with just over 65 percent of voters voting yes.
In Sioux County, there was one contested county race. Former County Sheriff Dan Altena ran for Board of Supervisors, District 3, and he appears to have defeated his Democratic challenger John Skilbred, 2355 to 191.
The only contested race at the county level for O’Brien County was that of Grant Township Trustee, and Joel Sickelka appears to have defeated Luke Streit, 57 to 17.
And there were no contested races at the county level for Lyon County.
Click here for results from the Iowa Secretary of State’s Office
