DES MOINES, Iowa (Gray Media Iowa Capitol Bureau) – A pair of races for the Iowa Legislature are still too close to call.
So far, Republicans have expanded their supermajorities in both chambers to historic levels, with twice as many seats as Democrats.
Two Iowa Senate races in the Des Moines metro remain undecided by fewer than 50 votes. The two seats in question are currently held by Democrats.
In one race the incumbent Democrat is in the lead, and in the other the Republican challenger is in the lead.
Incumbent Democratic State Senator Nate Boulton of Des Moines is currently lagging behind the Republicans challenger Mike Pike with 43 votes.
Pike said in a statement that he expects a recount and is confident he will be the winner after it is completed.
“I am grateful to the voters of this district for their support. I look forward to working to lower the cost of living, protect jobs and support common sense. I expect there will be a recount and my team is prepared to ensure an accurate count. I am confident that I will be declared the winner after the recount is completed,” Pike said.
Boulton says they haven’t decided on a recount yet, but at least a dozen provisional ballots still need to be counted. Voters who receive a provisional ballot must return to the polls after the election and prove things like their residency or citizenship before their vote can be counted.
“Patience is important, right. We all want immediate results. That would be the easiest thing, but patience is important because accuracy is more important than timeliness. So we want to make sure that everyone who votes actually gets counted and that the accurate result is the end result,” Boulton said.
Another race that is close is between the Democratic Dallas County incumbents State Senator Sarah Trone Garriott And Republican Mark Hanson. Trone Garriott leads with 19 votes.
She told me by telephone this afternoon that the results will not be final until next week, when the results are known Dallas County Auditor’s Office does his canvas.
Trone Garriott says there are 20 provisional ballots open in her district. She says these voters were under the banner of the Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate’s challenge to the voters who at one point indicated that they were not citizens, but had registered to vote after naturalization.
We reached out to her opponent but never heard back.
Sitting Democratic Senator Eric Giddens‘ (D-Cedar Falls) race remains uncalled by the Associated Pressbut he admitted in a Facebook post. Giddens trailed Republican challenge Dave Sires by 291 votes.
In the House of Representatives, a few races remain uncalled by the AP.
Sitting Rep. Molly Buck (D-Ankeny) follows the Republican challenger Ryan Weldon with 136 votes. Weldon claimed victory in a Facebook post.
In Davenport, Representative Monica Kurth‘s race is still too close to call. Kurth is leading the Republican challenger Nathan Ramker with 47 votes. Kurth told KWQC she was surprised by the tight race.
There are no automatic recounts in Iowaso candidates should ask for it. They can be applied for after the provinces have done their official research and must be applied for by November 18th.
If the margin of victory is within 50 votes or 1%, the state will bear the costs of a recount.
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Conner Hendricks covers state government and politics for Gray Media-owned stations in Iowa. Email him [email protected]; and follow him on Facebook Conner HendricksTV or on X/Twitter @Connerreports.
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