State Sen. Sarah Trone Garriott is a Democrat from West Des Moines. (Photo courtesy of Sarah Trone Garriott)
A recount in Iowa Senate District 14 shows that incumbent Sen. Sarah Trone Garriott, D-Waukee, has maintained her lead over Republican challenger Mark Hanson.
Dallas County Auditor Julia Helm reported that Trone Garriott came in 29 votes ahead of her opponent as the recount concluded at 20,467 votes to Hanson’s 20,438.
That is a slight increase from the 24-vote lead Trone Garriott held after the Dallas County absentee and special precinct board met earlier in November. The additional five votes came from five different precincts that had single instances of an undervote, causing specific reporting issues, Helm said.
The recount was conducted by a board consisting of representatives from each campaign, as well as a neutral member who was agreed to by both parties.
Trone Garriott said in a statement that she was grateful to her supporters, volunteers and staff for their efforts during the election and recount process.
“This has been a very long election for us, and I’m grateful to the Dallas County Auditor’s office for all of the effort they made to make sure every vote was counted,” she said in a video Monday after the recount results were announced. “It’s exciting to go back and be able to continue to serve my district.”
Hanson has not conceded the race. As a member of the Dallas County Board of Supervisors, he and other board members will hear the official results report from the recount at the supervisors’ meeting Tuesday.
Trone Garriott’s victory to represent Waukee, Adel, Van Meter and parts of Clive and West Des Moines, was one of the few legislative races up for a recount in Iowa. On Friday, Sen. Nate Boulton, D-Des Moines, conceded his race to Republican Mike Pike in Iowa Senate District 20 after a recount showed his opponent maintained a 44-vote lead.
Another recount, between Rep. Monica Kurth, D-Davenport and Republican Nathan Ramker for House District 98, began Monday, with Kurth leading in the initial count by 45 votes.
The results of the recounts will not affect Statehouse control heading into the 2025 legislative session. Republicans expanded to a supermajority in the Iowa House and held its supermajority in the Senate in the November general election, maintaining the GOP’s standing trifecta control alongside Republican Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds.
The recount for Iowa’s 1st Congressional District, brought by Democratic challenger Christina Bohannan in her race against incumbent U.S. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, is also still being conducted. As of Friday, Bohannan remained 800 votes behind Miller-Meeks with nine of the 20 counties in the congressional district completing the recount process.
Mike Marinella, a spokesperson with the National Republican Congressional Committee, the House GOP campaign arm, called for Bohannan to concede in a statement Friday. The organization said that the recount, funded by the state because of the margin of victory, has cost more than $11,000 to conduct.
“Christina Bohannan refuses to admit she’s a two-time loser because Iowa voters have rejected her extremism once again,” Marinella said. “Election Denier Bohannan must finally concede and save Iowa taxpayers their hard-earned money from being spent on her phony recount.”