Republicans Lose Supermajority In State Legislative Chamber After Democrat Victory In Special Election

Democrat Catelin Drey on Tuesday defeated Republican Christopher Prosch in a special election for the Iowa state Senate, flipping a GOP seat.

The Democrat victory breaks the GOP’s supermajority in the state’s upper chamber.

Drey defeated Prosch in a vote of 55% to 44%.

BREAKING: Republicans just LOST their supermajority in the Iowa State Senate. The Democrat has flipped Senate District 1 from red to blue in a special election.

National Democrats got very heavily involved here. pic.twitter.com/QIbiACmVhF

— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) August 27, 2025

Fox News has more:

Drey secured 55% of the vote in the race to replace late Republican state Sen. Rocky De Witt, who died in June at the age of 66 after a battle with pancreatic cancer.

This is the second time this year Democrats have flipped a Republican-controlled state Senate seat in Iowa, after Democrat Mike Zimmer defeated Republican Katie Whittington in a special election in January.

Drey won a district President Donald Trump carried by more than 11 points last year, and the president won Zimmer’s district by more than 20 points.

Democrats have won several other special-election wins this year as the party hopes to build on the momentum leading into next year’s midterm elections, when they’ll attempt to flip the GOP majorities in the U.S. House and U.S. Senate.

Trump won it by 11.5 https://t.co/Y50BlgpYk5

— Daniel Horowitz (@RMConservative) August 27, 2025

“Dems just broke the GOP’s supermajority in the Iowa Senate thanks to a special election flip!” the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee stated.

“Sen.-elect Drey’s victory gives state Dems increased power in the chamber, including the ability to block Gov. Reynolds from making controversial gubernatorial appointments,” it added.

BREAKING: Dems just broke the GOP’s supermajority in the Iowa Senate thanks to a special election flip!

Sen.-elect Drey’s victory gives state Dems increased power in the chamber, including the ability to block Gov. Reynolds from making controversial gubernatorial appointments. pic.twitter.com/NicSH0Mcst

— Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee (@DLCC) August 27, 2025

The Des Moines Register noted:

“I’m just really incredibly honored that the folks in Senate District 1 believed in this campaign as much as the team did and I am looking forward to representing them well,” Drey said in an interview with the Des Moines Register.

The western Iowa Senate seat is based in Woodbury County and includes Sioux City.

Drey will serve the remainder of De Witt’s term, which ends in January 2027. The seat will be on the ballot again in November 2026.

With Drey’s win, Democrats now hold 17 seats in the 50-member Senate to Republicans’ 33 seats — enough to break the two-thirds supermajority the GOP has enjoyed since the 2022 election.

That means Republicans will need support from at least one Democratic senator to confirm Reynolds’ nominees to state agencies, boards and commissions in the final year of her term.

Drey’s victory is the latest in a string of positive special election results for Democrats this year that will give the party hope that it can claw back seats in the 2026 midterms.