Iowa’s voter turnout broke records for midterm elections

Iowa voters broke midterm turnout records in the general election Tuesday, with more than 1,380,528 residents casting their ballots.

Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate told reporters Wednesday the 2026 general election was “the largest midterm in three decades here in Iowa” in voter turnout. This year’s election fell slightly short of the turnout in 1990 — a year when 63.47% of registered voters cast ballots, in comparison to 2026, when preliminary reports show a participation rate of 63.34%. But it surpassed the previous record for the most votes cast, beating the total of 1,329,930 votes during the 2018 midterms.

The 2018 and 2026 election cycles share similarities, coming as midterm cycles during President Donald Trump’s first and second terms in office, and resulting in major Democratic victories across the state.

Democrats clawed back power in many races in Iowa in the 2026 midterm election. Voters elected Rob Sand as governor, according to preliminary results, as well as Josh Turek as U.S. senator. Three of the state’s four congressional districts will be represented by a Democrat in January, a major shift from Iowa’s current all-GOP federal delegation. Democratic challenger Nate Willems also defeated incumbent Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird for the statewide elected office, and Taylor Wettach was leading in the open race for auditor.

Pate, who won his own reelection campaign as an incumbent Republican, said Tuesday’s results are a reflection both of national trends that favored Democrats this election cycle, as well as high engagement among Iowa voters. Though there were Democratic victories, Pate said some of Iowa’s election results show that voters were not necessarily voting one party in the election, as Republicans retained majorities in both state legislative chambers.

“You didn’t see a big ticket thing here,” Pate said. “I don’t think it was a Democrat wave or a Republican wave. This was a wave based on the candidates and their messaging. So we’ll watch and see how it unfolds over the next two years.”

In addition to high turnout overall, Pate said Iowa saw a major rise in early voting this election cycle, particularly for in-person early voting, rather than mailed absentee ballots. He said he believed higher early voting rates were in part driven by concerns about the voting process in 2026. President Donald Trump had moved earlier this year to restrict mail ballots sent through the U.S. Postal Service, and some were concerned about the deployment of U.S. Department of Justice election monitors on Election Day — but he also said he expects to continue to see high early turnout.

Moving forward, Pate said he was advocating for lengthening the early voting window by five days, a move he said was necessary to give county auditors needed time to prepare mailed absentee ballots.

But he also said there were several internal and logistical changes he and county auditors plan to work on to prevent hourslong lines some early voters faced when they went to cast their ballot before Nov. 3. These changes could include adding more satellite voting locations.

“The (early voting) trending is definitely there, and I think it’s gonna be here for a while,” Pate said. “So again, we’ll be having a lot of conversations. I will be visiting with the auditors to discuss what things we should do to improve the process. That will be starting yet in December, so we’re ready for the Legislature in January, if we need to change new laws to allow us to do it.”