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2026 midtermsResults

2026 results · Iowa · Iowa Attorney General

Nate Willems, the Democrat, is elected Iowa Attorney General, a Democratic gain

Donald Trump carried Iowa by 13.3 points in 2024; this year's count is a 15.0-point move toward the Democrats. The Republicans held it before the election.

Iowa Attorney General: votes counted for each candidate
CandidateVotesShareShare of the vote
Nate WillemsDemocrat681,09750.8%
Brenna BirdRepublican657,40549.1%
Write-in1,5270.1%

Called by Call the Map, Nov 4, 8:45 AM EST · 97% counted.

About 97% of the expected vote counted1,340,029 votesCount last changed Nov 7, 6:28 PM ESTSource: Iowa Secretary of State

The map

Loading the map.

What moved most

Scroll through Iowa, part by part. The parts follow the federal government’s metropolitan areas: each big metro’s core counties, its suburbs and outer suburbs, the smaller metro areas, then the small towns and countryside.

What the count shows

Added together, the 99 counties compared moved 15.0 points toward the Democrats from the 2024 presidential vote.

The counties compared cast 81% as many votes as in 2024, from 87% in Dallas County to 70% in Fremont County. Turnout and the move from 2024 were barely related.

Winneshiek County moved most: R+9.3 for president in 2024, D+13.5 this year

The 10 counties with the largest moves from the 2024 presidential vote, among those with 2,000 or more votes for president in 2024 and a quarter of that counted, and at least half a percent of the state's 2024 vote. Each line runs from the 2024 margin to this year’s.

CountyR+40EvenD+40Move
Winneshiek County10,119 votes22.8 pts → D
Muscatine County15,385 votes20.2 pts → D
Fayette County7,709 votes19.1 pts → D
Buchanan County8,448 votes18.8 pts → D
Wapello County10,993 votes18.6 pts → D
Lee County11,843 votes18.0 pts → D
Marshall County14,259 votes17.3 pts → D
Black Hawk County51,092 votes17.3 pts → D
Woodbury County33,047 votes16.6 pts → D
Webster County12,524 votes16.5 pts → D

2024 president 2026

Polk County added 25,379 net votes for Willems against the 2024 margin, 10% of the statewide change

Across the 99 counties compared, the margin moved by 243,433 votes toward Willems: this year’s lead in votes against the 2024 presidential lead in votes, county by county. The figure counts voters who changed sides and differences in who turned out alike; the count cannot tell them apart.

  1. Polk County+25,379 Willems
  2. Linn County+13,899 Willems
  3. Scott County+10,882 Willems
  4. Black Hawk County+8,711 Willems
  5. Woodbury County+7,715 Willems
  6. Dallas County+7,364 Willems
  7. Dubuque County+7,168 Willems
  8. Pottawattamie County+6,828 Willems

8 counties Donald Trump carried in 2024 are led by Willems this year

Striped on the map above. Largest first.

  • Scott CountyR+3.9D+10.2
  • Dallas CountyR+4.7D+8.0
  • Dubuque CountyR+8.6D+6.2
  • Muscatine CountyR+14.9D+5.2
  • Des Moines CountyR+15.0D+0.1
  • Marshall CountyR+15.6D+1.8
  • Winneshiek CountyR+9.3D+13.5
  • Jefferson CountyR+6.8D+5.6

How the vote came in

Willems did best among absentee ballots (D+22.9) and Bird among Election Day votes(R+10.1).

  1. Election Day859,384 votes, 64% of the countR+10.1
  2. Absentee480,645 votes, 36% of the countD+22.9

The office’s own categories, as it reports them. Margins are within each kind of vote.

What the places that moved have in common

Each of Iowa’s counties, set against the Census Bureau’s figures for who lives there. A pattern across counties, not an exit poll: it does not say how any group of people voted.

Urban, suburban and rural counties

Suburban9 counties, 52% of the vote14.5 pts → D
Rural90 counties, 48% of the vote13.9 pts → D

2024 president 2026 · Urban: 1,000 or more residents per square mile; suburban: 100 to 999; rural: under 100 (our grouping).

Census Bureau ACS 2019–2023 and 2023 Gazetteer; a county joins once its count is substantially in.

U.S. HouseBefore the election R 4–0, now D 3–1

  1. D+9.2Bohannan
  2. D+4.0James
  3. D+7.3Garriott
  4. R+18.1McGowan

won leads, still counting changed party. Margins are the leader’s share minus the runner-up’s, in points.

Every count on this page is the official count published by the Iowa Secretary of State. Counts are unofficial until the state certifies them. The 2024 comparison is the presidential vote, Kamala Harris against Donald Trump, on the same ground. Margins are the Democrat minus the Republican, in points of all votes.