It turns out, the turnout at the polls on Tuesday did not set a record for a June primary election. Almost 280,000 Iowans voted on Tuesday. Secretary of State Paul Pate says more than 300,000 voters took part in primary elections in 2002 and 2010.
Some media reports stated this year’s election was a record-breaker. Not so. “I was hoping to make it the big one, but going back and looking at the archives, it looks like it’s in the top three,” Pate told Radio Iowa.
Participation in the Democratic primary — which featured contested races for governor and the state’s three congressional seats — did set a record for that party. “The count I last saw puts Democrats at a pretty significant number – I think it was 176,529,” Pate said.
Just over 13-percent of Iowa’s roughly two-million registered voters cast a ballot in Tuesday’s primary election.
Provisional ballots are still being counted and will affect the overall numbers. They could also impact the Republican nomination for Iowa Ag Secretary.
For now, it appears Mike Naig finished just short of the 35-percent support he needed to earn the nomination. According to Pate, Naig could still get there. “We can’t answer that until we’ve gotten all of the provisionals counted and the counties have the chance to do their preliminary canvassing,” Pate said. “So, election night isn’t over – still some totaling going on.”
If Naig does end up below that 35-percent threshold, delegates at the Republican Party’s state convention will choose between Naig and four other candidates to decide who will appear on the November ballot.