Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley is running for re-election for what would be his eighth term in office, and easily defeated his primary challenger on Tuesday. In November, he'll face off against Democrat Michael Franken.
The race and the stakes
Senate Republicans breathed a huge sigh of relief when Grassley, the oldest Republican in Congress who will be 89 by Election Day, announced last September that he'd be running for reelection.
Grassley's seat is considered safe for Republicans and is part of their broader strategy to retake the currently evenly-divided Senate in the November midterms.
On Tuesday, Grassley, the top Republican on the Judiciary Committee, defeated state Sen. Jim Carlin of Sioux City, his lone challenger during the primary.
Iowa is considered a red state that backed former President Donald Trump in 2016 and by an even higher margin in 2020, even though the Hawkeye State twice backed former President Barack Obama. Trump endorsed Grassley early in his reelection bid.
Still, Democrats want to try to turn the state back to purple or even blue.
Grassley will face off against Franken, who campaigned on protecting voting rights and expanding Medicare — the government program that covers seniors and others who qualify because of a disability. He unsuccessfully ran for the Democratic primary for US Senate in 2020.
Franken defeated two other challengers, former Rep. Abby Finkenauer; Michael Franken, a retired three-star US Navy Admiral; and Glenn Hurst, who chairs the Iowa Democratic Party's Rural Caucus.
One of the centrists is Finkenauer, 33, who was in the US House from 2018 to 2021, and has campaigned on imposing 12-year term limits in Congress.
Hurst is a doctor who specializes in family medicine. He's a progressive who has run on a promise to expand Medicare to everyone living in the US and on the Green New Deal — a sweeping plan to combat the climate crisis championed by Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
A Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa Poll from March found Grassley was viewed unfavorably by 40% of Iowans, the highest unfavorable rating he'd ever received. A total of 47% of Iowans viewed him favorably.
Democrats also say there's evidence their party can win statewide. The seats of state attorney general, auditor, and treasurer are all held by Democrats, though they're all up for reelection this year.
Iowa's 3rd congressional district was the only one facing a primary on Tuesday and the district is considered to be a toss-up in November. It gained nine counties that voted for Trump after redistricting.
Iowa's 3rd congressional district had three candidates in the running hoping to defeat incumbent Democratic Rep. Cindy Axne.
Tuesday's results show Republican state Sen. Zach Nunn of Polk County will face off against Axne after defeating Nicole Hasso, who worked as a financial services professional; and Gary Leffler, who calls himself Trump's biggest supporter in the race. Leffler was at the US Capitol riot on January 6 but said he didn't break into the building.
Republicans have been targeting Axne over her failure to properly report more than three-dozen stock trades, a violation first reported by NPR.