Democrat Catelin Drey on Tuesday scored a special state Senate election upset victory in a district President Donald Trump won by double digits in 2024.
Drey was declared the victor in the special election, beating Republican Christopher Prosch. Results from Iowa’s State Senate District 1 show Drey with 55% of the vote, with Prosch collecting roughly 45%.
Drey, the founder of the grassroots public advocacy group Moms for Iowa, said that her campaign was driven by the need “to make some changes” in Iowa.
“People, especially in Iowa, are desperate for something to give,” Drey said on the Cornhole Champions podcast. “What does it look like to live in a state whose representation does not reflect the actual will of the people who are being represented?”
In 2024, Trump won the area that includes District 1 by a wide margin of 23 points.
Drey’s win is the second upset win by a Democrat in Iowa in 2025, marking the end of the GOP’s supermajority in the state Senate.
The state Senate notably used the supermajority to pass a wide restriction on abortion access.
Iowa Democratic Party Chair Rita Hart said Drey would “listen to the people, not the powerful.”
“Our state is ready for a new direction and Iowa Democrats will keep putting forward candidates who can deliver better representation for Iowans,” Hart said in a post on X.
Drey’s opponent, Prosch, campaigned as “a strong pro-life conservative” who favored tax cuts and spoke out against “woke ideologies” in public schools.
Heather Williams, president of the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee, said the victory “should send a flashing warning to the GOP,” in a statement released on Tuesday.
“Voters are rejecting the failing MAGA agenda and leaving Republican candidates in the dust,” she added.
