Iowans went to the polls in record numbers for a mid-term election.

Their job: Determine who would take control of four major state offices.

With one exception, incumbents held on.

Democratic candidate Rob Sand beat incumbent Mary Mosiman for state auditor.

In past elections, the races were called down ballot because of the straight party voting.

But for the first time Iowans did not have that option.

Throughout 2018, races for Iowa’s secretary of agriculture, state auditor and secretary of state have received significantly more attention than past years.

The campaigns have raised hundreds of thousands dollars.

For example, Sand, 35, raised more than $1.2 million to Mosiman, 56, raised almost $90,000.

Sand, of Decorah, is a former Iowa prosecutor running on the platform of being the top watchdog.

The State Auditor’s office does all of Iowa’s public corruption investigations.

Sand, who worked years in the state attorney general’s office, recently garnered a major conviction on a high-profile lottery cheating case.

Sand is not a certified public account, but claims there are plenty of CPAs in the auditor’s office, and what is needed is a strong prosecutor.

Democrats claimed Mosiman did not work to report lower-than-expected cost savings in the Republican-led Medicaid privatization efforts.

Mosiman had been the Iowa’s auditor since 2013 after being appointed by former Gov. Terry Branstad.

She contended certified public accounts are more qualified for the job than prosecutors like Sand.

In another closely-watched race, Democratic candidate for Secretary of State Deirdre DeJear, 32, raised more than $500,000 for her campaign and incumbent Republican Paul Pate, 60, raised more than $80,000.

However, Pate was declared the winner. He won with 53 percent of the vote to DeJear’s 45 percent.

Iowans have not elected a Democrat to the Iowa Secretary of Agriculture post since Patty Judge won in 2002.

Tim Gannon wanted to pick up where Judge left off.

However, Mike Naig was declared the unofficial winner. He had replaced former ag secretary Bill Northey after Northey took up a position at the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Democratic Attorney General Tom Miller won over Libertarian Marco Battaglia. Miller won 77 percent of the vote to Battaglia’s 23 percent. There was no Republican candidate.

The race for treasurer of state hasn’t brought in the same dollars as the other races. Incumbent Democrat Mike Fitzgerald, 66, raised $44,000, and his opponent Republican Jeremy Davis, 40, has raised $22,900.

Fitzgerald was declared winner, his tenth term. He won with 55 percent of the vote to challenger Jeremy Davis’ 43 percent. Libertarian candidate Timothy Hird pulled 2 percent of the state treasurer vote.

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Contact Mike Donahey, 641-753-6611, or mdonahey@timesrepublican.com