A Quad-City Times story interviewed the curator for the State Historical Society of Iowa about the closest congressional races in Iowa’s past. He limited himself to about the past century, starting with a 1916 election where the Republican won by 131 votes in the 11th District. The 11th(!) District was in the northwest corner, from Monona to Dickinson counties northwestward. Only three since then have been within 500 votes, he said.
The Iowa Secretary of State’s Office has general election results going back to 1936, although the 1940 and 1948 U.S. House results aren’t included. Here are the three elections. Maps are here.
- 1964 3rd District — Republican won by 419 votes. The 1960s 3rd was a 12-county square in north-central Iowa with Hamilton and Black Hawk as the southern corners.
- 1938 9th District — Democrat won by 339 votes. The 1930s 9th had 12 of the same 13 counties as the 1910s 11th. Suffice it to say, elections in northwest Iowa aren’t nearly as contested anymore.
- 1956 6th District — Democrat won by 198 votes. There was no redistricting in 1952. The 1940s/1950s 6th had 15 counties in north-central Iowa, from Crawford to Winnebago, more or less centered around Fort Dodge.
- And now, we have the 2020 2nd District — Republican won by 6 votes, per the certified count.
Finding results earlier than a century ago is much harder to do. However, I know of at least one election that was decided by fewer than 30 votes, and I’ll go into detail about that one in a later post.