Buena Vista County stayed red yesterday (Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026), even as Iowa voters delivered some major victories for Democrats statewide.
Unofficial election results show Republicans winning every contested partisan race in Buena Vista County, including a closely watched county supervisor contest, while Democrats captured Iowa’s governor’s office and an open U.S. Senate seat.
In the race for Buena Vista County Board of Supervisors District 3, Republican incumbent Paul Merten defeated Democratic challenger Tom Grau by more than 1,000 votes.
Merten received 3,447 votes, or just over 59%, compared with Grau’s 2,383 votes, or nearly 41%. The margin was 1,064 votes. Merten’s victory gives him another term on the board, where Republicans also faced no opposition in the other two supervisor races. Kathy Croker received 4,226 votes in District 1, while Kelly Snyder received 4,225 votes in District 2.
Another closely watched regional contest was Iowa Senate District 3, where Republican incumbent Lynn Evans of Aurelia defeated Democrat Mike Frantz of Storm Lake to secure a second four-year term.
Evans received 3,379 votes in Buena Vista County, or more than 57%, compared with Frantz’s 2,502 votes, or about 42%. Evans also won districtwide, with unofficial results showing more than 15,500 votes for Evans and just over 7,000 for Frantz. The district includes all of Buena Vista, O’Brien and Osceola counties and portions of Cherokee and Clay counties.
Evans, a former school superintendent who chairs the Iowa Senate Education Committee, was first elected in 2022. Frantz, a retired higher education consultant, had campaigned on education funding, water quality and affordability.
But while Republicans maintained their advantage locally, Iowa voters delivered Democratic victories in two of the state’s highest profile races.
Democrat Josh Turek defeated Republican Congresswoman Ashley Hinson for Iowa’s open U.S. Senate seat, becoming the first Democrat elected to the Senate from Iowa since 2008. Turek will succeed retiring Republican Sen. Joni Ernst.
However, Buena Vista County voters favored Hinson, who received 3,156 votes, or nearly 54%, compared with Turek’s 2,546 votes, or just over 43%. Libertarian Thomas Laehn received 179 votes.
A similar divide emerged in the governor’s race.
Democrat Rob Sand defeated Republican Zach Lahn statewide, becoming Iowa’s first Democratic governor-elect in 20 years. But Lahn narrowly carried Buena Vista County, receiving 3,146 votes, or nearly 52%, compared with Sand’s 2,916 votes, or about 48% — a difference of just 230 votes.
In Iowa’s 4th Congressional District, Republican Chris McGowan defeated Democrat Dave Dawson to succeed Republican Congressman Randy Feenstra. McGowan also won Buena Vista County, receiving 3,310 votes, or 58%, compared with Dawson’s 2,390 votes, or nearly 42%. McGowan will be the only Republican in Iowa’s four-member U.S. House delegation after Democrats won the other three congressional districts.
In other legislative races, Republican Keith Glienke defeated Democrat Stephanie Steiner in Iowa House District 5, while Republican incumbent Megan Jones ran unopposed in House District 6. Glienke received 840 votes in the portion of Buena Vista County within his district, compared with Steiner’s 249.
Republicans also carried Buena Vista County in all five statewide executive office races, but those results didn’t always reflect the statewide outcome.
Republican Paul Pate won reelection as secretary of state, and Republican Mike Naig secured another term as secretary of agriculture. However, Democrat Nate Willems defeated Republican incumbent Brenna Bird in the attorney general’s race, despite Bird receiving 3,333 votes in Buena Vista County, or more than 57%, compared with Willems’ 2,484 votes, or nearly 43%.
Meanwhile, the races for state auditor and treasurer remained too close to call early Wednesday. Democrat Taylor Wettach held a narrow lead over Republican Chris Cournoyer for auditor, while Republican incumbent Roby Smith led Democrat John Norwood for treasurer.
Buena Vista County voters favored Cournoyer and Smith, with both receiving more than 57% of the local vote.
County voters also supported a proposed constitutional amendment requiring a two-thirds vote in both chambers of the Iowa Legislature to approve certain individual income tax rate increases. The measure received 3,225 yes votes, or nearly 63%, compared with 1,895 no votes locally. The amendment also drew majority support statewide.
Despite Democratic gains in federal races, Republicans will retain control of the Iowa Senate.
According to the Buena Vista County Auditor’s Office, 6,144 ballots were cast in Tuesday’s election, representing a voter turnout of 56.8%.
All eight county precincts have reported, but the results remain unofficial until canvassed and certified by the board of supervisors.
