Democrat Renee Hardman won a special election for state Senate in Iowa on Tuesday, preventing Republicans from regaining a supermajority in the chamber, Decision Desk HQ projects.
Her victory denies Republicans a two-thirds majority in the upper chamber, which would have given them the power to override a governor’s veto, call for special sessions and approve a governor’s appointees on a party-line vote.
With Hardman’s win, Iowa Democrats are closing out the year strong. Back in January, Democrat Mike Zimmer flipped an Iowa state Senate district that had overwhelmingly voted for Trump in 2024. And in August, Democrat Catelin Drey flipped another open state Senate seat, breaking the GOP supermajority.
It feels even better when you look at the turnout and the margin. About a third of vote totals from last year’s general election, and this was on the day before New Year’s Eve, when you’d expect a lot of people to be traveling or hanging out with family. That’s a shocking amount of people who turned up for a late special election just to give a fat middle finger to Republicans.