OAN Staff Katherine Mosack
12:57 PM – Thursday, January 1, 2025
Democrat Renee Hardman won the special election for Iowa Senate District 16, blocking Republicans from regaining their supermajority in the Iowa state Senate and becoming the state’s first Black female state senator.
On Tuesday, December 30th, Hardman beat Republican candidate Lucas Loftin with 71.4% of the vote, leading by about 43 percentage points, according to unofficial results from the Iowa Secretary of State, with 99% of votes counted.
The special election sought to fill the late Senator Claire Celsi (D-Iowa)’s seat, which had been vacant since her death in October, at age 59, due to an undisclosed illness that placed her in hospice shortly before passing. The district includes a portion of West Des Moines, Clive, and Windsor Heights.
Hardman, 64, is the president and CEO of Lutheran Services of Iowa and has previously made history as West Des Moines’ first Black City Councilwoman with her election in 2017.
“I want to recognize that while my name was the one on the ballot, this race was never just about me,” Hardman told a room of supporters in West Des Moines upon her victory.
Iowa Democrats have already flipped two of the 50 state Senate seats this year, breaking up the supermajority that had allowed Republicans to confirm Governor Kim Reynolds’ (R-Iowa) appointments to state agencies and commissions. Reynolds’ appointments will now require Democrat support to be approved.
After the special election, Republicans hold 33 seats, while Democrats hold 17. If Hardman’s opponent, Loftin, had won on Tuesday, the party would have kept its supermajority.
Ken Martin, chair of the Democratic National Committee, called Hardman’s victory “a major check on Republican power.”
“With the last special election of the year now decided, one thing is clear: 2025 was the year of Democratic victories and overperformance, and Democrats are on track for big midterm elections,” Martin said.
Iowa GOP Chairman Jeff Kaufmann applauded Loftin for putting up a fight in “a district so blue there wasn’t a Republican candidate on the ballot last cycle,” where Democrats outnumber Republicans by 3,300 voters, or 30-37%.
“Although we fell short this time, the Republican Party of Iowa remains laser-focused on expanding our majorities in the Iowa Legislature and keeping Iowa ruby-red,” Kaufmann said.
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