Democrat Catelin Drey won a special election Tuesday to fill an open state Senate seat, defeating Republican Christopher Prosch and breaking the GOP’s supermajority in the chamber for the first time in three years.
According to unofficial results from the Woodbury County Auditor’s Office, Drey captured 55% of the vote in the race to replace late Republican Sen. Rocky De Witt, who died in June at the age of 66 after a battle with pancreatic cancer.
This is the second time in 2025 that Democrats have flipped a Republican-held state Senate seat. In January, Democrat Mike Zimmer defeated Republican Katie Whittington in a special election.
Significance of the Win
Drey’s district was carried by President Donald Trump by more than 11 points in 2024, while Zimmer’s district had favored Trump by more than 20 points. Democrats say the victories underscore voter dissatisfaction with GOP policies at both the state and national levels.
Drey’s victory eliminates the Republicans’ two-thirds majority in the Iowa Senate, which had given them the power to confirm gubernatorial nominees without Democratic support. With the supermajority broken, Democrats now hold greater leverage to block Republican initiatives.
National Democratic Response
Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin praised the win as part of a broader trend.
“Iowans are seeing Republicans for who they are: self-serving liars who will throw their constituents under the bus to rubber stamp Donald Trump’s disastrous agenda — and they’re ready for change,” Martin said in a statement.
He added: “Make no mistake: when Democrats organize everywhere, we win everywhere, and today is no exception.”
Looking Ahead
Democrats have notched several special-election wins across the country this year and hope to carry that momentum into the 2026 midterms, when they will attempt to flip GOP majorities in both the U.S. House and U.S. Senate.
