Republican candidates dominate local, state and federal races
By Audrey Posten, Times-Register
The unofficial turnout for the Nov. 8 general election was the second highest in state history for a midterm, according to Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate. More than 1.22 million Iowans voted, just below the all-time high of 1,329,930 set in 2018.
The 2022 total includes the 7,406 ballots cast in Clayton County. That’s roughly 60 percent turnout of registered voters.
Unofficial results put Republicans on top in the contested local races.
In State House District 64, incumbent Anne Osmundson picked up 5,005 of her overall 9,176 votes in Clayton County. The district encompasses all of Clayton and Allamakee counties as well as Holy Cross in Dubuque County. Osmundson defeated Democrat Brian Bruening, who totaled 4,148 votes, including 2,271 in Clayton County.
Steve Doeppke retained his seat on the Clayton County Board of Supervisors with 4,578 votes, and will be joined by fellow Republican Doug Reimer, who earned 5,062. Democrats Phil Specht and Lester Simons received a respective 1,953 and 1,676 votes.
Sue Meyer will remain Clayton County Recorder after picking up 5,536 votes to the 1,674 for Democratic challenger Donna Kann.
County treasurer Linda Zuercher and attorney Zach Herrmann were both running unopposed. Zuercher earned 6,545 votes and Herrmann 6,334.
There were multiple non-partisan races in Clayton County, including soil and water conservation district commissioner, where Mark Glawe and Travis Anderson were elected to the two open seats. For agricultural extension council member, Amanda Meyer was the top vote-getter with 4,256, followed by Katherine Ruff with 4,054, Trent Henkes with 4,048, Cindy Schoulte Petsche with 3,771 and Blair Lincoln with 3,178. Adam Weigand’s 3,027 votes were not enough to make it on the council.
A full list of township trustee and clerk winners can be found at elections.claytoncountyia.gov.
At the state level, incumbent auditor Rob Sand was the only Democrat to win a race. He edged Republican challenger Todd Halbur by less than 3,000 votes, at 600,090 to 597,476. It was also the closest statewide race for Clayton County voters, who cast 4,100 ballots in favor of Halbur and 3,169 for Sand.
Gov. Kim Reynolds and Lt. Gov. Adam Gregg easily won re-election, as did Republican incumbents Pate as secretary of state and Mike Naig as secretary of agriculture.
Democratic attorney general Tom Miller, the longest currently serving state attorney general in the country, lost his bid for an 11th term to Brenna Bird. Long-time treasurer of state Michael L. Fitzgerald, a Democrat, also lost. He was defeated by Roby Smith.
Iowa’s federal races were equally dominant for Republicans. Sen. Chuck Grassley won election to his eighth term with 681,123 votes to the 532,707 for Democrat Michael Franken. In Clayton County, 4,839 voters supported Grassley, compared to just 2,510 for Franken.
Republican Ashley Hinson will head back to Washington, D.C. as representative for Iowa’s second congressional district. She tallied 172,137 votes, while Democrat Liz Mathis came in at 145,859. Clayton County voters likewise favored Hinson, 4,844 to 2,526.
For public measures on the ballot, Iowa voters overwhelmingly said “yes” to constitutional amendment 1, which asked if an amendment should be adopted to the state constitution that provides that the right of the people of Iowa to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed. Nearly 748,000 people supported the measure, and 399,470 voted “no.”
Locally, Clayton County township voters were asked if the Clayton County Board of Supervisors should fill the offices of trustees and clerks by appointment as the terms of office for the incumbent township officers expire. Of the county’s 22 townships, all but two—Cass and Mallory—voted “yes” for the measure.
Work on the election is far from finished.
Every county will now conduct post-election audits in randomly selected precincts to help ensure the integrity of the vote. Secretary Pate added another layer of protection to Iowa’s electoral process this year by ordering a second race to undergo hand count audits in every county. The audits will ensure the numbers match the totals reported by the ballot tabulators. The gubernatorial race and constitutional amendment ballot measure will be audited.
“Post-election audits add another layer of integrity to the election process,” Pate said. “I want all Iowans to know their vote counts, and it will be counted correctly.”
All election results remain unofficial until canvassing is complete and results are certified. The deadline is Dec. 5.
“Hours of work go into preparing these documents, including the tabulation of write-ins, of which I have already seen many that may be listed as scattering (fictional characters, blanks, expletives) but we still document as permanent record,” said Clayton County Auditor Jennifer Garms in a Facebook post. “These votes for non-qualifying candidates generate extra time and cost to getting out results. As we go through the election returns, it may take a bit of time to determine winners. If there is a case of a tie, it will be decided at the canvass. All results are unofficial until the canvass on Nov. 15.”
