Iowa US Senate 2026
Election day is November 3, 2026. A statewide contest in Iowa.
Who is favoured in Iowa US Senate?
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What the Iowa US Senate election decides
The Senate confirms federal judges and cabinet officers, ratifies treaties, and can stop legislation the House passes. With a six-year term and a hundred-member chamber, a single seat is a larger share of the institution than any House district, which is why Senate races draw national money into state contests.
Each state sends two senators regardless of population, so this seat carries the same weight as California's or Wyoming's. Iowa voters fill it alongside all 4 of the state's House seats and the governorship, and a Senate term runs six years, spanning two future Congresses and, in this case, the next presidential election.
How Iowa votes
Iowa's politics run through its farm economy, small cities and a long tradition of retail campaigning. Once a national bellwether, it has trended Republican in recent cycles while remaining competitive in the right conditions. That backdrop is the ground any Iowa campaign fights on, and it is what the Electorate HQ simulation reads first when it weighs a ticket's platform against this contest.
About this race
The 2026 United States Senate election in Iowa will be held on November 3, 2026, to elect a member of the United States Senate to represent the state of Iowa. Republican congresswoman Ashley Hinson and Democratic state representative Josh Turek are the nominees for their respective parties. Republican incumbent Joni Ernst is not seeking a third term.
Primary elections were held on June 2. Endorsed by President Donald Trump, Hinson won the Republican nomination with 73.9% of the vote over former state senator Jim Carlin. Turek won the Democratic nomination with 62.6% of the vote over state senator Zach Wahls.
Democrats have not won a Senate election in Iowa since 2008. This is Iowa's first open Senate election to be held concurrently with an open gubernatorial election since 1968.
Latest coverage of the Iowa US Senate race
New poll shows tight races for Iowa governor, U.S. Senate in 2026馃搱 Iowa鈥檚 Senate race is a dead heatIowa Election 2026: Key Races and Historical Presidential Election ResultsIowa primary results: Trump-backed Feenstra concedes to Lahn in governor primary; Hinson and Turek will compete for open Senate seatThe rest of the Iowa ballot
Every Iowa House district, the counties inside each one, and an address lookup that resolves your exact districts are on the Iowa state page.
Other 2026 races in Iowa
Analysis covering Iowa
Twenty-six states elect a senator and a governor on the same day in 2026
The overlap between the Senate class and the gubernatorial cohort is a coincidence of two unrelated calendars, and it decides where money goes.
The 2026 Senate map covers 62% of the country and 70% of the states
Thirty-five of fifty states vote for Senate this year. Weighted by people rather than states the share drops, and that gap is the design of the chamber.