2012 Iowa Senate election

Iowa State Senate elections, 2012

← 2010 November 6, 2012 2014 →

26 out of 50 seats in the Iowa State Senate
26 seats needed for a majority
  Majority party Minority party
 
Leader Jack Kibbie Jerry Behn
Party Democratic Republican
Leader's seat 4th district
(retired)
24th district
Last election 26 24
Seats before 26 24
Seats after 26 24
Seat change Steady Steady

Results of the elections:
     Democratic gain      Republican gain
     Democratic hold      Republican hold
     No election

President of the Senate before election

Jack Kibbie
Democratic

Elected President of the Senate

Pam Jochum[1]
Democratic

The 2012 Iowa State Senate elections took place as part of the biennial 2012 United States elections. Iowa voters elected state senators in 26 of the state senate's 50 districts—the 25 even-numbered state senate districts and the 49th district.[2] State senators serve four-year terms in the Iowa State Senate, with half of the seats up for election each cycle. This was the first election cycle following the 2010 census and 2011 redistricting process.

As a result of redistricting, many state senators were redrawn into new seats. This explains some incumbents being reelected, but into districts with new numbers following the redistricting process.

The primary election on June 5, 2012, determined which candidates appeared on the November 6, 2012 general election ballot. Primary election results can be obtained here.[3]

Following the previous 2010 Iowa Senate election, Democrats maintained control of the Iowa state Senate with 26 seats.

To reclaim control of the chamber from Democrats, the Republicans needed to net 2 Senate seats.

Democrats kept control of the Iowa State Senate following the 2012 general election as the chamber's partisan composition remained unchanged with 26 Democrats to 24 Republicans.

State Senator Pat Ward was running in district 22 when she died on October 15, 2012, less than a month before the general election.[4] A special election on Dec. 11, 2012 saw her seat retained by the Republicans.[5]

  1. ^ Incumbent Democratic Leader Jack Kibbie retired and did not seek re-election. Iowa Senate Democrats selected Pam Jochum to be their new leader following the 2012 elections.[1]
  2. ^ Incumbent Republican Robert Bacon resigned halfway through his term, opening up an additional seat for election in 2012.[2] Typically, only the 25 even-numbered seats would have been up for regularly scheduled elections in the 2012 cycle.
  3. ^ "Primary Election 2012 Canvass Summary" (PDF). Iowa Secretary of State. Retrieved April 2, 2020.
  4. ^ Pat Ward (District 30), an incumbent Republican, had been redistricted from district 30 to district 22 and was re-elected to district 22 posthumously.[3]
  5. ^ Charles Schneider elected to Iowa Senate in special election to succeed deceased Senator Pat Ward.[4]