Sioux City, Iowa (RI) — The northwest Iowa Democrat who won a special election for a seat in the Iowa Senate has been sworn into office.
Catelin Drey is representing a district that includes areas of rural Woodbury County as well as Sioux City, where Drey lives.
There are now 17 Democrats serving in the Iowa Senate, and it breaks the G-O-P’s 34-seat super majority. Senate Democratic Leader Janice Weiner says it means Democrats have the ability to be part of the mix in developing legislation.
This is the second special election Senate Democrats have won this year. Drey, who won with about 55 percent of the vote, takes office less than a week after influential conservative Charlie Kirk was killed in Utah and two students were shot at a Colorado school by a 16-year-old who authorities say was radicalized by online content. Drey says it’s a fraught time, and she’s thinking about the safety of children in school as well as the safety of public officials.
Drey will serve the remainder of Senator Rocky De Witt’s term. De Witt died of cancer in June.
