Catelin Drey hugged her young daughter when she won a special election for a spot in the Iowa Senate. A crowd of supporters, including family, friends and volunteers, erupted into applause upon hearing the news.
The 37-year-old Democrat won by 11 percentage points in a state Senate district that President Donald Trump carried by 10 points in 2024. Her win also took away a Republican supermajority in the Iowa Senate. Democrats will now control 17 seats, but Republicans still hold a majority with 33.
Catelin Drey victory party
“The supermajority is no longer, and I think that is obviously great for the Democrats. But more importantly, it is great for the constituents across the state of Iowa who deserve to have their voices heard, who no longer will have to have unpopular policies shoved down their throat with no hope of a debate or conversation around a bill,” said Drey, who works for an advertising company in Sioux City and is the founder of the advocacy group Moms for Iowa.
Drey said her top priority is to address the affordability crisis in Iowa.
“I think that we have to focus on what constituents are saying,” Drey said. “How do we make housing more affordable? How do we make our child care more affordable? How do we make our health care more affordable, and I am ready to hit the ground running on those issues.”
Senate District 1 includes Sioux City and a portion of Woodbury County. Republican state Sen. Rocky De Witt represented the district before he died of pancreatic cancer in June.
Drey credited a grassroots campaign with volunteers from all over the state, and beyond, for helping her beat Republican Christopher Prosch, the owner of a media consulting firm.
“We have an opportunity to capitalize on this moment right now and into 2026. We showed that when you do the work and you talk to voters, that change is possible,” Drey said. “This was truly a team effort across the board. And I think people right now are desperate to do something that feels hopeful and feels like it can change the conversation, and that’s what we did tonight.”
Sheila Brummer
/
Iowa Public Radio
Both parties react to the results
Following his defeat, Prosch told reporters that running for office was humbling and difficult due to the tight timeline. He said he hoped Drey “will take the voice of the entire district with her.”
Iowa GOP Chairman Jeff Kaufmann wasn’t as gracious in a written statement.
“National Democrats were so desperate for a win that they activated 30,000 volunteers and a flood of national money to win a state Senate special election by a few hundred votes,” Kaufmann said. “If the Democrats think things are suddenly so great again for them in Iowa, they will bring back the caucuses.”
The campaign took on a negative tone when a mailer sent out by the Iowa Republican Party featured Drey with pink hair standing by an alien. It called her “kooky” and someone who supported letting “illegal aliens vote.” Drey said the claim wasn’t valid in a IPR profile on the candidates.
“I’m really proud of the race that we ran,” she said. “You know, we had a message that obviously resonated with voters.”
The Woodbury County GOP congratulated Drey and the Woodbury County Democratic Party in a statement shared on social media.
“Despite a significant active voter registration advantage in the district, county and state, special elections across the nation have proven challenging, even in the reddest of states,” read the statement, adding that Prosch, “mobilized one of the most aggressive ground games we’ve seen, especially given the short window.”
Prosch’s platform aligned with many of Trump’s priorities, including cutting taxes, securing the border, school choice and restricting abortion rights.
Rita Hart, chair of the Iowa Democratic Party, said the special election results show Iowa is ready for a new direction. She said Iowa Democrats will continue to put forward candidates who can deliver better representation for Iowans.
“For the fourth special election in a row, Iowa voted for change,” Hart said in a statement. “Catelin Drey will listen to the people, not the powerful, get our economy growing and bring down costs for families. Christopher Prosch and Iowa Republicans spent over $180,000 on this race, while Democrats from all over Iowa came together to give money, knock doors and write postcards.”
State Rep. J.D. Scholten is currently the lone Democratic state lawmaker in northwest and northcentral Iowa. After Drey’s win, he said he won’t be the only Democrat elected in a “42-county region.”
“She’s done an amazing job with her campaign, and I’m excited for Iowa Senate District 1 to have great representation,” Scholten said in a post with a photo of Drey at her victory party on election night.
The special election attracted extra attention
Woodbury County Election Commissioner Michelle Skaff said the race garnered national attention. She received inquiries about the special election from both CNN and The New York Times.
“It was amazing going to all the precincts. People were filtering through every time I went, no matter what time of the day it was — people were voting,” Skaff said. “And it was really nice to see that in an election like this, with one race and only 13 polling locations open in half of the county, it was a great turnout.”
Courtesy: Woodbury County Election Commissioner
Skaff also said around 3,300 absentee ballots were returned, which is 95% of the ballots requested.
“When Rocky [De Witt] ran, there were just over 5,000 absentees, so to have 3,300 absentees in this election, a special election with just one race, I think speaks for itself,” Skaff said.
Of the almost 32,000 registered voters in the 22 precincts of Senate District 1, 24% cast their ballots in the special election.
Does this win mean momentum for other Democrats?
The Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee said Drey’s victory builds momentum for special elections this year, with state Democrats overperforming, including winning in districts that supported President Trump.
Drey’s win wasn’t all unexpected, according to David Peterson, a professor of political science at Iowa State University. He said Democrats have done well in recent special elections nationwide.
“The Democrats have been outperforming by somewhere between 10-15% over what they had done in 2024,” Peterson said. “So the fact that she won isn’t a huge surprise. The sizable margin win is somewhat of a shock.”
According to Peterson, the party that doesn’t hold the White House typically does better in special elections.
“But it’s also been the case lately that Democrats are doing better amongst more engaged voters, ones who turn out for a variety of lower-profile elections,” Peterson added. “So, the combination of these two factors has been a real boon for Democrats in these special elections.”
Peterson predicts the support for Democrats will continue through the midterm elections next year.
“You know, there are all these polling numbers that suggest that people are unhappy with the direction the country is going, that a lot of the policy initiatives that President Trump is passing or is implementing are unpopular, and that the economic forecast doesn’t look great,” Peterson said. “So, the combination of those things likely does lead this to be a pretty good year for Democrats.”
When a political party starts seeing some success, Peterson said the winning side usually can attract better candidates who are connected to their communities, like Drey.
“And part of it is that the Democratic Party’s brand is so poisoned right now that this is the opportunity for candidates like Catelin, who are outside of the traditional party structure, who aren’t the sort of ‘next in line Democrat,’ to really step forward and try to capture some of the zeitgeist. Because they have the ability to try to be something new, to be something that can connect to people where they are, even when the Democratic Party as a brand doesn’t seem to be able to do that,” Peterson said.
—
This story was updated at 3:15 p.m. on Aug. 27 with comments from David Peterson.
