The 2020 United States Senate election in Iowa was held on November 3, 2020, to elect a member of the
United States Senate to represent the
State of Iowa
Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the ...
, concurrently with the
2020 U.S. presidential election
The 2020 United States presidential election was the 59th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 3, 2020. The Democratic ticket of former vice president Joe Biden and the junior U.S. senator from California Kamala H ...
, as well as
other elections to the United States Senate in other states and
elections to the
United States House of Representatives and various
state and local elections. Primaries were held on June 2.
Most experts and pollsters considered this race and the
concurrent presidential race as a tossup due to incumbent President
Donald Trump's low approval ratings and Ernst's own popularity dropping in polls. Despite this, Ernst was reelected by a larger-than-expected 6.6 points, while Trump simultaneously won the state with a similarly unexpected margin of victory. Ernst carried an overwhelming majority of the state's counties including many rural ones, while Greenfield carried only eight counties:
Polk,
Linn,
Scott
Scott may refer to:
Places Canada
* Scott, Quebec, municipality in the Nouvelle-Beauce regional municipality in Quebec
* Scott, Saskatchewan, a town in the Rural Municipality of Tramping Lake No. 380
* Rural Municipality of Scott No. 98, Saska ...
,
Johnson,
Black Hawk Black Hawk and Blackhawk may refer to:
Animals
* Black Hawk (horse), a Morgan horse that lived from 1833 to 1856
* Common black hawk, ''Buteogallus anthracinus''
* Cuban black hawk, ''Buteogallus gundlachii''
* Great black hawk, ''Buteogallus ur ...
,
Story,
Cerro Gordo and
Jefferson.
Republican primary
Candidates
Nominee
*
Joni Ernst, incumbent U.S. Senator
Withdrawn
*Paul Rieck
Endorsements
Results
Democratic primary
On June 2, 2020,
Theresa Greenfield won the Democratic primary with 47.71% of the vote, defeating three other major candidates, including
Michael Franken
Michael Thane Franken (born November 8, 1957) is an American retired United States Navy vice admiral. His final posting was as deputy director of military operations for the United States Africa Command. Franken was a Democratic candidate in ...
, a retired U.S. Navy admiral and former aide to U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy.
Candidates
Nominee
*
Theresa Greenfield, businesswoman, candidate for
Iowa's 3rd congressional district in
2018
File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...
Eliminated in primary
*
Michael Franken
Michael Thane Franken (born November 8, 1957) is an American retired United States Navy vice admiral. His final posting was as deputy director of military operations for the United States Africa Command. Franken was a Democratic candidate in ...
, retired U.S. Navy admiral and former aide to U.S. Senator
Ted Kennedy
*Kimberly Graham, child welfare attorney
*Eddie Mauro, businessman, teacher, candidate for
Iowa's 3rd congressional district in
2018
File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...
Withdrawn
*Cal Woods, journalist and
U.S. Navy veteran ''(endorsed Michael T. Franken)'' ''(remained on ballot)''
Declined
*
Cindy Axne, incumbent U.S. Representative for
Iowa's 3rd congressional district (running for reelection, endorsed Greenfield)
*
Chet Culver, former
Governor of Iowa
* Deirdre DeJear, nominee for
Secretary of State of Iowa in
2018
File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...
*
Abby Finkenauer, incumbent U.S. Representative for
Iowa's 1st congressional district (running for reelection, endorsed Greenfield)
* Amber Gustafson, candidate for the
Iowa Senate in 2018 (endorsed Greenfield)
*
Rita Hart
Rita Hart (born May 5, 1956) is an American politician and retired educator who served as an Iowa State Senator from the 49th district from 2013 to 2019. She is a member of the Democratic Party. In the 2018 gubernatorial election, Hart ran for ...
, former state senator and nominee for
Lieutenant Governor of Iowa
This is a list of lieutenant governors of the U.S. state of Iowa.
History
Prior to 1990, the governor and lieutenant governor were elected in separate elections; since then they have run together on the same ticket.
List
See also
* List of ...
in
2018
File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...
(running in
Iowa's 2nd congressional district)
*
Rob Hogg, state senator
*
Liz Mathis, state senator
*
Rob Sand,
Iowa State Auditor
* J.D. Scholten, nominee for
Iowa's 4th congressional district in 2018 (running in Iowa's 4th congressional district)
*
Tom Vilsack, former
Governor of Iowa and former
U.S. Secretary of Agriculture
The United States secretary of agriculture is the head of the United States Department of Agriculture. The position carries similar responsibilities to those of agriculture ministers in other governments.
The department includes several organi ...
*Stacey Walker,
Linn County supervisor (endorsed Graham)
*
Steve Warnstadt, former state senator and intelligence officer in the
Iowa Army National Guard
Debates
Endorsements
Polling
Results
Other candidates
Libertarian Party
Nominee
* Rick Stewart,
Libertarian
Libertarianism (from french: libertaire, "libertarian"; from la, libertas, "freedom") is a political philosophy that upholds liberty as a core value. Libertarians seek to maximize autonomy and political freedom, and minimize the state's e ...
nominee for the
2018 Iowa Secretary of Agriculture election and independent candidate for the
2014 United States Senate election in Iowa
The 2014 United States Senate election in Iowa was held on November 4, 2014. Incumbent Democratic Senator Tom Harkin did not run for reelection to a sixth term in office.
U.S. Representative Bruce Braley was unopposed for the Democratic nomina ...
Independents
Declared
* Suzanne Herzog, economist and former ER nurse
General election
Major media described the campaign as one of the most likely to decide control of the Senate after the 2020 election. Polls conducted after the primary showed a close contest between Greenfield and Ernst, with neither candidate leading by more than 4 points.
Through June 2020, Greenfield had raised $11.5 million, compared to $14.6 million for Ernst but by September, Greenfield had pulled ahead, raising $40.0 million compared to $21.6 million for Ernst. The race was expected to be the most expensive in the state's history, and the second most expensive Senate race in the United States, after the
2020 United States Senate election in North Carolina
The 2020 United States Senate election in North Carolina was held on November 3, 2020, to elect a member of the United States Senate to represent the State of North Carolina, concurrently with the 2020 United States presidential election as w ...
, where
Cal Cunningham challenged
Thom Tillis.
Debate
Predictions
Endorsements
Polling
Graphical summary
Aggregate polling
;with Eddie Mauro
;with Joni Ernst and generic Democrat
;with Joni Ernst and Generic Opponent
;with generic Republican and generic Democrat
Results
;Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican
*
Clinton
Clinton is an English toponymic surname, indicating one's ancestors came from English places called Glympton or Glinton.Hanks, P. & Hodges, F. ''A Dictionary of Surnames''. Oxford University Press, 1988 Clinton has frequently been used as a given ...
(largest municipality:
Clinton
Clinton is an English toponymic surname, indicating one's ancestors came from English places called Glympton or Glinton.Hanks, P. & Hodges, F. ''A Dictionary of Surnames''. Oxford University Press, 1988 Clinton has frequently been used as a given ...
)
*
Des Moines
Des Moines () is the capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is also the county seat of Polk County. A small part of the city extends into Warren County. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moines, ...
(largest municipality:
Burlington)
*
Dubuque
Dubuque (, ) is the county seat of Dubuque County, Iowa, United States, located along the Mississippi River. At the time of the 2020 census, the population of Dubuque was 59,667. The city lies at the junction of Iowa, Illinois, and Wisconsin, a r ...
(largest municipality:
Dubuque
Dubuque (, ) is the county seat of Dubuque County, Iowa, United States, located along the Mississippi River. At the time of the 2020 census, the population of Dubuque was 59,667. The city lies at the junction of Iowa, Illinois, and Wisconsin, a r ...
)
*
Floyd (largest municipality:
Charles City
Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning was "f ...
)
*
Howard
Howard is an English-language given name originating from Old French Huard (or Houard) from a Germanic source similar to Old High German ''*Hugihard'' "heart-brave", or ''*Hoh-ward'', literally "high defender; chief guardian". It is also probabl ...
(largest municipality:
Cresco)
*
Lee
Lee may refer to:
Name
Given name
* Lee (given name), a given name in English
Surname
* Chinese surnames romanized as Li or Lee:
** Li (surname 李) or Lee (Hanzi ), a common Chinese surname
** Li (surname 利) or Lee (Hanzi ), a Chinese ...
(largest municipality:
Fort Madison
Fort Madison is a city and a county seat of Lee County, Iowa, United States along with Keokuk, Iowa, Keokuk. Of Iowa's 99 counties, Lee County is the only one with two county seats. The population was 10,270 at the time of the 2020 United State ...
)
*
Worth (largest municipality:
Northwood)
;Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic
*
Scott
Scott may refer to:
Places Canada
* Scott, Quebec, municipality in the Nouvelle-Beauce regional municipality in Quebec
* Scott, Saskatchewan, a town in the Rural Municipality of Tramping Lake No. 380
* Rural Municipality of Scott No. 98, Saska ...
(largest municipality:
Davenport
Davenport may refer to:
Places Australia
*Davenport, Northern Territory, a locality
* Hundred of Davenport, cadastral unit in South Australia
**Davenport, South Australia, suburb of Port Augusta
**District Council of Davenport, former local govern ...
)
See also
*
2020 Iowa elections
A general election was held in the U.S. state of Iowa on November 3, 2020.
To vote by mail, registered Iowa voters must request a ballot by October 24, 2020. As of early October some 686,870 voters have requested mail ballots.
State offices ...
Notes
;Partisan clients
;Voter samples
References
Further reading
*
External links
* (State affiliate of the U.S.
League of Women Voters
The League of Women Voters (LWV or the League) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan political organization in the United States. Founded in 1920, its ongoing major activities include registering voters, providing voter information, and advocating for vot ...
)
*
;Official campaign websites
Joni Ernst (R) for SenateTheresa Greenfield (D) for SenateSuzanne Herzog (I) for Senate
Rick Stewart (L) for Senate
{{2020 United States elections
2020
2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...
Iowa
United States Senate