Iowa’s voter turnout in Tuesday’s primary election saw a boost compared with the 2022 midterm, as a lineup of closely watched races drove more voters to the polls.
This year’s primary election featured multiple high-profile races, including contests for party nominations in Iowa’s open governor and U.S. Senate races, as well as competitive local and legislative elections in the Des Moines metro.
Primary voter turnout this year was 19%, up from 16% in 2022.
From the first day of early voting on May 13 through June 2, 411,525 Iowans cast ballots, according to unofficial results from the Secretary of State’s Office. In 2022, 356,140 Iowans voted in the primary.
This trend was apparent in Polk County, where 71,347 ballots were cast according to unofficial results compared to 61,769 in 2022.
Polk County Auditor Jamie Fitzgerald believes a combination of top-of-the-ticket races paired with competitive local elections for Polk County supervisor and legislative seats energized voters.
“A lot of the candidates brought the enthusiasm,” Fitzgerald said, noting many of the races featured new candidates.
Absentee voting down
In contrast, early voting numbers were down ahead of the June 2 primary, despite a higher overall turnout.
A week before the primary, noted turnout rates were lower in comparison to previous years.
“It’s (turnout) a little behind last year’s, and we’re monitoring that, but a lot of that is going to fall into the candidates because a primary is very unique,” Iowa Secretary of State Paul said during a news conference on election security May 26.
Part of the lower turnout was a dip in absentee votes.
This election, 68,489 ballots were cast, according to unofficial results, compared with 73,868 in 2022 when mail-in voting was more popular during the first primary following the COVID-19 pandemic.
Which party leads in voter registrations?
Ahead of primary day, Iowa Republicans made up the largest chunk of registered voters in the state.
There are 694,349 registered, active Republicans compared with 500,432 active registered Democrats as of June 1.
No-party voters, who would need to register with a major party to cast a ballot in the primary, make up the second largest voting block, with 588,009 active registrations.
Rapid Response Politics Reporter Maya Marchel Hoff can be reached at mmarchelHoff@usatodayco.com. You can find her on X (formerly Twitter) at @mmarchelhoff.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowa voter turnout went up in 2026 primary with high-stakes races
Reporting by Maya Marchel Hoff, Des Moines Register / Des Moines Register
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Maya Marchel Hoff, Des Moines Register | USA TODAY Network
