1990 Iowa Senate election

The 1990 Iowa State Senate elections took place as part of the biennial 1990 United States elections. Iowa voters elected state senators in half of the state senate's districts--the 25 odd-numbered state senate districts. State senators serve four-year terms in the Iowa State Senate, with half of the seats up for election each cycle. A statewide map of the 50 state Senate districts in the year 1990 is provided by the Iowa General Assembly here.

1990 Iowa Senate election

November 6, 1990
25 out of 50 seats in the Iowa State Senate 26 seats needed for a majority
Majority party Minority party   Leader Bill Hutchins Calvin Hultman Party Democratic Republican Leader's seat 48th 47th (retired) Last election 30 20 Seats before 30 20 Seats after 28 22 Seat change 2 2
Majority Leader before election Bill Hutchins Democratic Elected Majority Leader Bill Hutchins Democratic

The primary election on June 5, 1990 determined which candidates appeared on the November 6, 1990 general election ballot. Primary election results can be obtained here.[1] General election results can be obtained here.[2]

The 1990 elections were the last in Iowa in which the Lieutenant Governor performed the duties of "President of the Senate." Starting on January 14, 1991, with the enactment of Article IV, section 18, of the Constitution of Iowa, the duties of Iowa's Lieutenant Governor no longer include presiding over the state Senate. [3] The Majority Leader was instead the sitting Senate member who led the larger party. Following 1991, the President of the Iowa Senate would become a sitting member of the Senate.

Following the previous election in 1988, Democrats had control of the Iowa state Senate with 30 seats to Republicans' 20 seats.

To take control of the chamber from Democrats, the Republicans needed to net 6 Senate seats.

Democrats kept their control of the Iowa State Senate following the 1990 general election, with Democrats holding 28 seats and Republicans having 22 seats after the election (a net gain of 2 seats for the Republicans).

Summary of Results

• NOTE: The 25 even-numbered districts did not have elections in 1990 so they are not listed here.

State Senate District	Incumbent	Party		Elected Senator	Party
1st	Al Sturgeon		Dem	Al Sturgeon		Democratic
3rd	Wilmer Rensink		Rep	Wilmer Rensink		Republican
5th	Linn Fuhrman		Rep	Linn Fuhrman		Republican
7th	C. Joseph Coleman		Dem	James B. Kersten		Republican
9th	Ray Taylor		Rep	Ray Taylor		Republican
11th	John Jensen		Rep	John Jensen		Republican
13th	Jim Lind		Rep	Jim Lind		Republican
15th	Kenneth Daniel Scott		Dem	Allen Borlaug		Republican
17th	Joseph J. Welsh		Dem	Joseph J. Welsh		Democratic
19th	Norman J. Goodwin		Rep	Sheldon L. Rittmer		Republican
21st	Patrick J. Deluhery		Dem	Patrick J. Deluhery		Democratic
23rd	Jean Hall Lloyd-Jones		Dem	Jean Hall Lloyd-Jones		Democratic
25th	Wally Horn		Dem	Wally Horn		Democratic
27th	Richard J. Varn		Dem	Richard J. Varn		Democratic
29th	Jack Rife		Rep	Jack Rife		Republican
31st	Gene Fraise		Dem	Gene Fraise		Democratic
33rd	Donald Gettings		Dem	Donald Gettings		Democratic
35th	Bill Dieleman		Dem	Bill Dieleman		Democratic
37th	Charles Hughes Bruner		Dem	Ralph Rosenberg		Democratic
39th	William D. Palmer		Dem	William D. Palmer		Democratic
41st	Julia Gentleman		Rep	Mary Kramer		Republican
43rd	Thomas Mann		Dem	Florence Buhr		Democratic
45th	James R. Riordan		Dem	James R. Riordan		Democratic
47th	Calvin Hultman		Rep	Derryl McLaren		Republican
49th	Jack W. Hester		Rep	Jack W. Hester		Republican

Source:[4]

Detailed Results

• Reminder: Only odd-numbered Iowa Senate seats were up for election in 1990; therefore, even-numbered seats did not have elections in 1990 & are not shown.

District 1 • District 3 • District 5 • District 7 • District 9 • District 11 • District 13 • District 15 • District 17 • District 19 • District 21 • District 23 • District 25 • District 27 • District 29 • District 31 • District 33 • District 35 • District 37 • District 39 • District 41 • District 43 • District 45 • District 47 • District 49

• Note: If a district does not list a primary, then that district did not have a competitive primary (i.e., there may have only been one candidate file for that district).

District 1

Iowa Senate, District 1 Democratic Primary Election, 1990

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Al Sturgeon (incumbent)	1,752	65.5
	Democratic	Milo Colton	921	34.5
Total votes			2,673	100.0

Iowa Senate, District 1 General Election, 1990

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Al Sturgeon (incumbent)	8,179	50.8
	Republican	Kathleen L. Hoffmann	7,915	49.2
Total votes			16,094	100.0
	Democratic hold

District 3

Iowa Senate, District 3 General Election, 1990

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Wilmer Rensink (incumbent)	14,002	100.0
Total votes			14,002	100.0
	Republican hold

District 5

Iowa Senate, District 5 General Election, 1990

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Linn Fuhrman (incumbent)	10,353	58.3
	Democratic	Keith Baker	7,397	41.7
Total votes			17,750	100.0
	Republican hold

District 7

Iowa Senate, District 7 General Election, 1990

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Jim Kersten	8,819	50.5
	Democratic	C. Joseph Coleman (incumbent)	8,641	49.5
Total votes			17,460	100.0
	Republican gain from Democratic

District 9

Iowa Senate, District 9 General Election, 1990

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Ray Taylor (incumbent)	10,482	56.2
	Democratic	Sam Osborne	8,178	43.8
Total votes			18,660	100.0
	Republican hold

District 11

Iowa Senate, District 11 General Election, 1990

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	John W. Jensen (incumbent)	10,364	59.7
	Democratic	Helen Kopsa	6,989	40.3
Total votes			17,353	100.0
	Republican hold

District 13

Iowa Senate, District 13 General Election, 1990

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Jim Lind (incumbent)	10,847	61.3
	Democratic	Abby Burns	6,848	38.7
Total votes			17,695	100.0
	Republican hold

District 15

Iowa Senate, District 15 General Election, 1990

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Allen Borlaug	9,998	51.9
	Democratic	Kenneth D. Scott (incumbent)	9,280	48.1
Total votes			19,278	100.0
	Republican gain from Democratic

District 17

Iowa Senate, District 17 General Election, 1990

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Joe J. Welsh (incumbent)	11,996	92.3
	Independent	Ray Taylor	1,000	7.7
Total votes			12,996	100.0
	Democratic hold

District 19

Iowa Senate, District 19 General Election, 1990

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Sheldon L. Rittmer	9,631	53.9
	Democratic	Douglas Olmsted	8,227	46.1
Total votes			17,858	100.0
	Republican hold

District 21

Iowa Senate, District 21 General Election, 1990

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Patrick J. Deluhery (incumbent)	8,266	100.0
Total votes			8,266	100.0
	Democratic hold

District 23

Iowa Senate, District 23 General Election, 1990

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Jean Hall Lloyd-Jones (incumbent)	16,959	100.0
Total votes			16,959	100.0
	Democratic hold

District 25

Iowa Senate, District 25 General Election, 1990

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Wally Horn (incumbent)	10,844	54.5
	Republican	Andy Hasley	9,049	45.5
Total votes			19,893	100.0
	Democratic hold

District 27

Iowa Senate, District 27 General Election, 1990

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Richard J. Varn (incumbent)	12,657	62.0
	Republican	Charles V. Dunham	7,767	38.0
Total votes			20,424	100.0
	Democratic hold

District 29

Iowa Senate, District 29 General Election, 1990

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Jack Rife (incumbent)	8,700	55.8
	Democratic	Hugh Reed	6,889	44.2
Total votes			15,589	100.0
	Republican hold

District 31

Iowa Senate, District 31 General Election, 1990

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Gene Fraise (incumbent)	10,645	60.3
	Republican	John H. Clark	7,009	39.7
Total votes			17,654	100.0
	Democratic hold

District 33

Iowa Senate, District 33 General Election, 1990

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Donald Gettings (incumbent)	11,327	100.0
Total votes			11,327	100.0
	Democratic hold

District 35

Iowa Senate, District 35 General Election, 1990

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Bill Dieleman (incumbent)	14,340	100.0
Total votes			14,340	100.0
	Democratic hold

District 37

Iowa Senate, District 37 General Election, 1990

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Ralph Rosenberg	12,184	66.6
	Republican	Ray Jones	6,104	33.4
Total votes			18,288	100.0
	Democratic hold

District 39

Iowa Senate, District 39 General Election, 1990

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	William D. Palmer (incumbent)	16,219	100.0
Total votes			16,219	100.0
	Democratic hold

District 41

Iowa Senate, District 41 Republican Primary Election, 1990

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Mary Kramer	2,147	64.5
	Republican	Mike McCann	1,182	35.5
Total votes			3,329	100.0

Iowa Senate, District 41 General Election, 1990

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Mary Kramer	13,970	53.1
	Democratic	Tim Urban	12,318	46.9
Total votes			26,288	100.0
	Republican hold

District 43

Iowa Senate, District 43 General Election, 1990

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Florence Buhr	12,510	100.0
Total votes			12,510	100.0
	Democratic hold

District 45

Iowa Senate, District 45 Democratic Primary Election, 1990

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	James R. Riordan (incumbent)	3,888	70.1
	Democratic	Timothy J. Nixon	1,656	29.9
Total votes			5,544	100.0

Iowa Senate, District 45 General Election, 1990

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	James R. Riordan (incumbent)	12,681	61.7
	Republican	Jerry D. Slater	7,881	38.3
Total votes			20,562	100.0
	Democratic hold

District 47

Iowa Senate, District 47 General Election, 1990

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Derryl McLaren	11,929	100.0
Total votes			11,929	100.0
	Republican hold

District 49

Iowa Senate, District 49 General Election, 1990

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Jack W. Hester (incumbent)	10,052	57.1
	Democratic	John J. O'Brien	7,549	42.9
Total votes			17,601	100.0
	Republican hold

See also

• United States elections, 1990
• United States House of Representatives elections in Iowa, 1990
• Elections in Iowa

References

1. "Primary Election 1990 Canvass Summary" (PDF). Iowa Secretary of State. Retrieved April 17, 2020.
2. "General Election 1990 Canvass Summary" (PDF). Iowa Secretary of State. Retrieved April 17, 2020.
3. "Presidents of the Senate" (PDF). Iowa General Assembly. Retrieved April 17, 2020.
4. "Legislators". Iowa State Senate. Retrieved April 17, 2020.