Republicans appear to have secured supermajorities in the Iowa legislature, although there could be recounts in some close races.
Unofficial results indicate Republicans in the Iowa House have expanded their majority to 67 seats. “We may have to add on to the Capitol so there’s a room big enough to hold all the House Republicans that we’re going to have this upcoming session,” House Speaker Pat Grassley said, to cheers, as he spoke at Iowa GOP Election Night headquarters in Des Moines.
Every Republican incumbent seeking reelection to the House won. Grassley suggested Democrats, by focusing on the abortion issue, were at a disadvantage. “Why in the world is a party running on one issue…killing babies?” Grassley asked. “And I think Iowans rejected that wholeheartedly tonight here in the Iowa House.”
Republicans have held 34 of 50 seats in the Iowa Senate for the past two years and unofficial results indicate Republicans will hold that 34-seat supermajority when the legislature convenes in January. The state’s most expensive legislative race was in central Iowa – and Democrat Matt Blake, a former Urbandale City Councilman, defeated long-time state Senator Brad Zaun. Zaun, a Republican who ran for congress in 2010 and 2014, was the only elected official in Iowa to endorse Donald Trump before the 2016 Iowa Caucuses.