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Democratic candidates had a good showing in Tuesday's general midterm election in Marshall County, drawing less votes in only four races.
Marshall County Democrats Co-Chair Tom Swartz said a high level of dissatisfaction is what drove voters to the ballot booths. He would speak with residents who visited the Marshall County Democrats headquarters, seeking yard signs and dropping off donations.
"They were clearly dissatisfied with the way things were going, and spoke to me about it," Swartz said. "They thought things needed to change with this election."
In the United States Senate race, Marshall County voters gave Josh Turek 7,334, or 50 percent, of the votes to Republican candidate Ashley Hinson's 6,734, or 46 percent. For United States House of Representatives District 4, Dave Dawson pulled 50 percent, or 7,163 of the votes compared to Republican Chris McGowan's 49 percent, or 7,000. Even though Marshall County voters chose Dawson, McGowan still garnered the majority of votes throughout the heavily conservative district to achieve victory.
The Democrats claimed half of the two state legislature seat races. Marshall County voters gave Iowa House of Representatives District 52 candidate Democrat Mike Tupper 54 percent, or 5,816 of the votes to incumbent Republican David Blom's 45 percent, or 4,831 votes. Blom had previously flipped the seat from blue to red in the 2024 election when he defeated incumbent Sue Cahill (D-Marshalltown) by about four percentage points.
Swartz attributed Tupper's proven leadership skills and character as reasons why the newcomer won the seat.
"It was clear people who knew him saw him as a leader with a commitment to the community," he said. "I also think the barrage of negative attack ads did not stick to and burden Mike. I think they might have lowered some of the voter turnout for Mike, but people who know him did not believe the things that were said in the attack ads."
The frequent attack ads in all races are something Swartz said voters are sick of.
"This time, people were disregarding them, from the top of the government down, they rejected the personal attacks, thuggery and spiteful comments," he said. "That is one reason why we saw the change we will now have."
For the District 51 race, incumbent Republican Brett Barker earned more votes at 62 percent, or 2,334, compared to Democrat Teresa Perin's 37 percent, or 1,413. District 51 also includes a portion of Story County, and Barker held onto his seat.
For the state offices, only two races were won by incumbent Republicans in Marshall County. Mike Naig claimed 53 percent, or 7,580 votes, for the Secretary of Agriculture, and Paul Pate earned 53 percent, or 7,595 of Marshall County votes for the Secretary of State position. Overall, both Republicans retained their seats in the election.
According to Swartz, Chris Jones ran against an incumbent who was well-known amongst farmers for years. He speculated that a comment Jones made during his campaign about planting a greater variety of crops and raising additional types of livestock might have turned some farmers away
For the Marshall County Board of Supervisors, Democratic candidate DeMorris Dean earned 30 percent, or 6,629 votes; incumbent Republicans Jarret Heil received 34 percent, or 7,463 and Carol Hibbs got 35 percent, or 7,664.
Swartz was pleased with the results of the election, even considering the losses.
"I was disappointed about losing some local races, but we got a major win with Mike Tupper who won the seat that had been in Democrat hands 28 out of 36 years," he said. "It was satisfying to see Mike do a great job. I was disappointed (that) Teresa Perin was unable to overcome a deficient number of votes in District 51, but she made a valiant effort and I wish her well. I was also disappointed (that) DeMorris Dean got so close to the supervisor seat, but glad he had a strong showing."
Contact Lana Bradstream at 641-753-6611 ext. 210 or lbradstream@timesrepublican.com.