Iowa Democrat Catelin Drey Wins Special Election, Ends GOP Supermajority in State SenateJasmyn Jordan 27 Aug 2025
Democrat Catelin Drey captured Iowa’s 1st Senate District in a special election Tuesday, defeating Republican Christopher Prosch and breaking the Republican supermajority in the state Senate for the first time in three years, according to unofficial results.
Catelin Drey, a Democrat from Sioux City, won the special election for Iowa Senate District 1 with about 55 percent of the vote, while her Republican opponent, Christopher Prosch, received 44 percent, according to preliminary tallies from the Woodbury County Auditor’s Office.
The seat became vacant after Republican Sen. Rocky De Witt, who was first elected in 2022, died in June following a battle with cancer. Gov. Kim Reynolds, a Republican, called the special election to fill the remainder of De Witt’s term, which runs through January 2027.
With Drey’s victory, Democrats now hold 17 seats in the 50-member Iowa Senate, compared with 33 for Republicans. The result breaks the GOP’s two-thirds supermajority, which had allowed Republicans to approve certain nominations and measures without Democratic support. Going forward, Republican leadership will need at least one Democratic senator to confirm appointments to state boards, commissions, and agencies.
The district, anchored in Woodbury County and including Sioux City, had backed former President Donald Trump by more than 11 points in the 2024 election. Trump also scored a historic margin in the Iowa Republican caucuses earlier that year, setting the record for the largest victory in the state’s history. Against that backdrop, Drey’s win in a reliably Republican area marks the second time this year Democrats have flipped a state Senate seat. In January, Democrat Mike Zimmer carried an eastern Iowa district that Trump had won by more than 20 points.
Drey, 37, works as an account executive for a marketing firm and lives in Sioux City with her husband and daughter. On the campaign trail, she emphasized education funding, affordability concerns, and addressing the cost of living for Iowa families.
“I’m incredibly honored that the folks in Senate District 1 believed in this campaign,” Drey said after her victory. “I am looking forward to representing them well.”
Both parties invested heavily in the race. According to campaign finance filings, the Iowa Democratic Party provided nearly $88,000 in in-kind support for Drey, while the Republican Party of Iowa backed Prosch with more than $160,000 in advertising, mailers, and campaign materials.
National Democratic groups also engaged in the contest. The Democratic National Committee and Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee organized volunteer outreach and highlighted Drey’s win as part of a string of strong special-election performances for Democrats in 2024.
Republican Party of Iowa Chair Jeff Kaufmann criticized the influx of outside spending, saying national Democrats “flooded” the district with resources to secure a narrow victory.
Drey’s election continues a trend of Democratic overperformance in Iowa’s special elections this year. Alongside Zimmer’s January win, Democrats also secured a Cedar Rapids-based House seat in April and came within a few points in a southeastern Iowa district in March.
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2025/08/27/iowa-democrat-catelin-drey-wins-special-election-ends-gop-supermajority-in-state-senate/
