The 2010 United States Senate election in Iowa was held on November 2, 2010, alongside other elections to the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

in other states as well as elections to the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

and various state and local elections in

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 th ...

. The party primary elections were held on June 8, 2010. Incumbent Republican U.S. Senator

Chuck Grassley Charles Ernest Grassley (born September 17, 1933) is an American politician serving as the president pro tempore emeritus of the United States Senate, and the senior United States senator from Iowa, having held the seat since 1981. In 2022, h ...

won reelection to a sixth term.

Republican primary

Candidates

, incumbent U.S. Senator

Results

Democratic primary

Candidates

* Roxanne Conlin, former

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for the Southern District of Iowa * Bob Krause, former Iowa State Representative and nominee for Treasurer in 1978 *

Tom Fiegen Thomas Lewis Fiegen (born October 2, 1958) is an American attorney and Democratic Party politician. He served in the Iowa State Senate from 2001 to 2003. He sought the Democratic nomination in the 2010 U.S. Senate election in Iowa but came i ...

, former Iowa State Senator

Campaign

Three Democrats sought the Democratic nomination. Former State Representative and

Iowa Department of Transportation The Iowa Department of Transportation (Iowa DOT) is the government organization in the U.S. state of Iowa responsible for the organization, construction, and maintenance of the primary highway system. Located in Ames, Iowa, DOT is also respons ...

official Bob Krause drew attention for implying that Grassley had been in office too long, remarking to supporters in Des Moines: "As a good farmer, Sen. Grassley must recognize that 51 years, or 58 years at the end of his term, is a long time to go without rotating crops." Both Krause and former State Senator

cited Grassley's support of deregulating the financial services industry as reasons for running. Krause said, "Please remember that Farmer Grassley was one that opened the barn door and let the cow out at AIG," while Fiegen, a bankruptcy lawyer, made reducing unemployment and tightening regulation of the financial services industry the cornerstones of his campaign. Former Iowa Democratic Party Chairman Michael Kiernan said that he had recruited trial lawyer Roxanne Conlin to challenge Grassley. Kiernan's virtual endorsement of Conlin prior to her announcement drew the ire of party members, as it is counter to party rules when there is more than one candidate from the party competing in a primary race. Conlin had been criticized for being unwilling to debate her primary opponents, and for being unfamiliar with and unsupportive of her own party's platform. On health care, Fiegen and Krause supported a public option, while Conlin didn't state a position, which she had been criticized for. Krause and Feigen claimed she supported supply-side economics. She also displayed an unfamiliarity with the Iowa Democratic Party's platform, repeatedly claiming there was no platform for her to support until after the June 12, 2010 convention.

Results

General election

Candidates

* Roxanne Conlin (D), former U.S. Attorney *

(R), incumbent U.S. Senator * John Heiderscheit (L), attorney

Campaign

Incumbent

started the campaign moderately popular, but his approval ratings dropped somewhat during the campaign. However, the seat continued to be considered to be "Safe Republican" by many sources, with CQ Politics noting that Grassley is "one of Iowa's most durable politicians." Conlin described herself as a "prairie progressive." She supported the recent landmark case of Varnum v. Brien, which legalized gay marriage in the state. She also supported repeal of "

don't ask, don't tell "Don't ask, don't tell" (DADT) was the official United States policy on military service of non-heterosexual people, instituted during the Clinton administration. The policy was issued under Department of Defense Directive 1304.26 on Decemb ...

." Before the election, former political advisor John Maxwell claimed that Grassley would have his toughest race since his first U.S. Senate election in 1980, where he defeated incumbent

John Culver John Chester Culver (August 8, 1932 – December 26, 2018) was an American politician, writer and lawyer who was elected to both the United States House of Representatives (1965–1975) and United States Senate (1975–1981) from Iowa. A memb ...

with 53% of the vote. Grassley won all of his four re-election bids with nearly 70% of the vote against unknown opponents. Grassley won the election with 64.35% of the vote, which, in fact was his closest election since 1980.

Debates

Grassley and Conlin only agreed to one debate. It was on October 26 on Des Moines radio station

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and

Iowa Public Television Iowa PBS, formerly Iowa Public Television (IPTV), is a network of Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) member stations in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is owned by the Iowa Public Broadcasting Board, an agency of the state education department which ...

Predictions

Polling

Fundraising

Results

References

External links

Iowa Secretary of State - Voter/Elections

U.S. Congress candidates for Iowa
at

Project Vote Smart Vote Smart, formerly called Project Vote Smart, is a non-profit, non-partisan research organization that collects and distributes information on candidates for public office in the United States. It covers candidates and elected officials in s ...

Iowa U.S. Senate
from OurCampaigns.com
Campaign contributions
from

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Iowa Polls
graph of multiple polls from ''Pollster.com''
Election 2010: Iowa Senate
from

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2010 Iowa Senate Race
from

Real Clear Politics RealClearPolitics (RCP) is an American political news website and polling data aggregator formed in 2000 by former options trader John McIntyre and former advertising agency account executive Tom Bevan. The site features selected political new ...

2010 Iowa Senate Race
from

CQ Politics Congressional Quarterly, Inc., or CQ, is part of a privately owned publishing company called CQ Roll Call that produces a number of publications reporting primarily on the United States Congress. CQ was acquired by the Economist Group and combine ...

Race profile
from

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;Official candidate websites (Archived)
Chuck Grassley for U.S. Senate
incumbent, Republican nominee
Roxanne Conlin for U.S. Senate
Democratic nominee
Tom Fiegen for U.S. Senate
Democrat {{United States elections, 2010 2010 Iowa elections

2010