Iowa Attorney General election, 2018

	2022 → ← 2014
Iowa Attorney General
	Democratic primary; Republican primary; General election
Election details
	Filing deadline: March 16, 2018
	Primary: June 5, 2018; General: November 6, 2018; Pre-election incumbent(s):; Tom Miller (Democrat)
How to vote
	Poll times: 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Voting in Iowa
Ballotpedia analysis
	Federal and state primary competitiveness; State executive elections in 2018; Impact of term limits in 2018; State government trifectas; State government triplexes; Ballotpedia's Election Analysis Hub, 2018
Iowa; executive elections
	Governor; Lieutenant governor; Attorney general; Secretary of state; Treasurer; Auditor; Agriculture commissioner

Iowa held an election for attorney general on November 6, 2018. The candidate filing deadline was March 16, 2018.

For more information about the Democratic primary, click here.
For more information about the Republican primary, click here.

For more information on attorney general elections in 2018, click here.

SETTING THE STAGE
Heading into the 2018 election, the sitting attorney general was Tom Miller (D), who was first elected in 1978 and was re-elected in 1982, 1986, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010, and 2014. Miller announced on May 10, 2017, that he planned to seek election to a tenth term in 2018.
At the time of the 2018 election, Iowa was a Republican trifecta as a result of the Republican Party gaining a majority in the Iowa State Senate in the 2016 elections. Iowa was under divided triplex control in 2018.
In the five presidential election cycles leading up to the 2018 election, Iowa was won by the Democratic candidate in 2000, 2008, and 2012 and by the Republican candidate in 2004 and 2016. The widest margin of victory was Barack Obama's ten percent margin in 2008 while the narrowest was Al Gore's 0.32 percent margin in 2000.

Candidates and election results

General election

General election for Attorney General of Iowa

Incumbent Thomas John Miller defeated Marco Battaglia in the general election for Attorney General of Iowa on November 6, 2018.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Thomas John Miller (D)	76.5	880,531
	Marco Battaglia (L)	22.8	262,131
	Other/Write-in votes	0.7	8,237

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 1,150,899
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Attorney General of Iowa

Incumbent Thomas John Miller advanced from the Democratic primary for Attorney General of Iowa on June 5, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Thomas John Miller	100.0	157,483

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified.	Total votes: 157,483
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

State overview

Partisan control

This section details the partisan control of federal and state positions in Iowa heading into the 2018 elections.

Congressional delegation

Following the 2016 elections, Republicans held both U.S. Senate seats in Iowa.
Republicans held three U.S. House seats in Iowa and a Democrat held the fourth.

State executives

As of September 2018, Republicans held five of 12 state executive positions, Democrats held two, and the remaining positions were officially nonpartisan.
The governor of Iowa was Republican Kim Reynolds. The state held elections for governor and lieutenant governor on November 6, 2018.

State legislature

Republicans controlled both chambers of the Iowa General Assembly. They had a 58-41 majority in the state House and a 29-20 majority in the state Senate.

Trifecta status

Iowa had a Republican trifecta, meaning that the Republican Party controlled both chambers of the state legislature and the governorship. Kim Reynolds (R) served as governor; she succeeded Terry E. Branstad, who resigned on May 24, 2017, to take the position of U.S. Ambassador to China.

2018 elections

See also: Iowa elections, 2018

Iowa held elections for the following positions in 2018:

Demographics

Demographic data for Iowa
	Iowa	U.S.
Total population:	3,121,997	316,515,021
Land area (sq mi):	55,857	3,531,905
Race and ethnicity**
White:	91.2%	73.6%
Black/African American:	3.2%	12.6%
Asian:	2%	5.1%
Native American:	0.3%	0.8%
Pacific Islander:	0.1%	0.2%
Two or more:	2%	3%
Hispanic/Latino:	5.4%	17.1%
Education
High school graduation rate:	91.5%	86.7%
College graduation rate:	26.7%	29.8%
Income
Median household income:	$53,183	$53,889
Persons below poverty level:	13.8%	11.3%
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2010-2015) Click here for more information on the 2020 census and here for more on its impact on the redistricting process in Iowa. **Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.

As of July 2016, Iowa's three largest cities were Des Moines (pop. est. 220,000), Cedar Rapids (pop. est. 130,000), and Davenport (pop. est. 100,000).^[1]

State election history

This section provides an overview of federal and state elections in Iowa from 2000 to 2016. All data comes from the Iowa Secretary of State website.

Historical elections

Presidential elections, 2000-2016

This chart shows the results of the presidential election in Iowa every year from 2000 to 2016.

Election results (President of the United States), Iowa 2000-2016
Year	First-place candidate	First-place candidate votes (%)	Second-place candidate	Second-place candidate votes (%)	Margin of victory (%)
2016	Donald Trump	50.7%	Hillary Clinton	41.3%	9.4%
2012	Barack Obama	51.7%	Mitt Romney	46.0%	5.7%
2008	Barack Obama	53.7%	John McCain	44.2%	9.5%
2004	George W. Bush	49.9%	John Kerry	49.2%	0.7%
2000	Al Gore	48.5%	George W. Bush	48.2%	0.3%

U.S. Senate elections, 2000-2016

This chart shows the results of U.S. Senate races in Iowa from 2000 to 2016. Every state has two Senate seats, and each seat goes up for election every six years. The terms of the seats are staggered so that roughly one-third of the seats are up every two years.

Election results (U.S. Senator), Iowa 2000-2016
Year	First-place candidate	First-place candidate votes (%)	Second-place candidate	Second-place candidate votes (%)	Margin of victory (%)
2016	Chuck Grassley	60.1%	Patty Judge	35.7%	24.4%
2014	Joni Ernst	51.5%	Bruce Braley	43.3%	8.2%
2010	Chuck Grassley	63.4%	Roxanne Conlin	32.8%	30.6%
2008	Tom Harkin	61.4%	Christopher Reed	36.5%	24.9%
2004	Chuck Grassley	70.2%	Arthur Small	27.9%	42.3%
2002	Tom Harkin	54.2%	Greg Ganske	43.8%	10.4%

Gubernatorial elections, 2000-2016

This chart shows the results of the four gubernatorial elections held between 2000 and 2016. Gubernatorial elections are held every four years in Iowa.

Election results (Governor), Iowa 2000-2016
Year	First-place candidate	First-place candidate votes (%)	Second-place candidate	Second-place candidate votes (%)	Margin of victory (%)
2014	Terry Branstad	58.4%	Jack Hatch	36.9%	21.5%
2010	Terry Branstad	52.3%	Chet Culver	42.8%	9.5%
2006	Chet Culver	53.7%	Jim Nussle	44.1%	9.6%
2002	Tom Vilsack	52.7%	Doug Gross	44.5%	8.2%

Congressional delegation, 2000-2016

This chart shows the number of Democrats and Republicans who were elected to represent Iowa in the U.S. House from 2000 to 2016. Elections for U.S. House seats are held every two years.

Congressional delegation, Iowa 2000-2016
Year	Republicans	Republicans (%)	Democrats	Democrats (%)	Balance of power
2016	3	75.0%	1	25.0%	R+2
2014	3	75.0%	1	25.0%	R+2
2012^[2]	2	50.0%	2	50.0%	Split
2010	2	40.0%	3	60.0%	D+1
2008	2	40.0%	3	60.0%	D+1
2006	2	40.0%	3	60.0%	D+1
2004	4	80.0%	1	20.0%	R+3
2002	4	80.0%	1	20.0%	R+3
2000	4	80.0%	1	20.0%	R+3

Trifectas, 1992-2017

A state government trifecta occurs when one party controls both chambers of the state legislature and the governor's office.

Iowa Party Control: 1992-2024
Four years of Democratic trifectas • Ten years of Republican trifectas
Scroll left and right on the table below to view more years.

Year	92	93	94	95	96	97	98	99	00	01	02	03	04	05	06	07	08	09	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24
Governor	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R
Senate	D	D	D	D	D	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	S	S	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R
House	D	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	D	D	D	D	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R

Pivot Counties

See also: Pivot Counties by state

Thirty-one of 99 Iowa counties—31 percent—are Pivot Counties. Pivot Counties are counties that voted for Barack Obama (D) in 2008 and 2012 and for Donald Trump (R) in 2016. Altogether, the nation had 206 Pivot Counties, with most being concentrated in upper midwestern and northeastern states.

Counties won by Trump in 2016 and Obama in 2012 and 2008
County	Trump margin of victory in 2016	Obama margin of victory in 2012	Obama margin of victory in 2008
Allamakee County, Iowa	24.15%	4.17%	14.25%
Boone County, Iowa	13.69%	6.64%	7.63%
Bremer County, Iowa	13.68%	2.68%	9.31%
Buchanan County, Iowa	15.02%	13.87%	18.48%
Cedar County, Iowa	17.78%	4.59%	9.64%
Cerro Gordo County, Iowa	7.66%	13.38%	20.83%
Chickasaw County, Iowa	22.94%	11.07%	20.74%
Clarke County, Iowa	28.02%	1.47%	2.25%
Clayton County, Iowa	22.78%	7.03%	17.17%
Clinton County, Iowa	5.12%	22.84%	23.03%
Des Moines County, Iowa	6.89%	18.41%	23.04%
Dubuque County, Iowa	1.23%	14.71%	20.77%
Fayette County, Iowa	19.36%	11.96%	16.60%
Floyd County, Iowa	14.84%	14.63%	21.88%
Howard County, Iowa	20.49%	20.95%	25.78%
Jackson County, Iowa	19.27%	16.89%	24.39%
Jasper County, Iowa	18.13%	7.07%	7.50%
Jefferson County, Iowa	0.47%	15.97%	20.23%
Jones County, Iowa	19.08%	7.78%	10.40%
Lee County, Iowa	16.02%	15.49%	16.01%
Louisa County, Iowa	28.37%	0.64%	4.25%
Marshall County, Iowa	8.31%	9.36%	9.35%
Mitchell County, Iowa	24.04%	3.37%	12.31%
Muscatine County, Iowa	6.26%	15.88%	15.64%
Poweshiek County, Iowa	6.53%	9.35%	11.75%
Tama County, Iowa	20.28%	7.43%	12.19%
Union County, Iowa	27.49%	3.86%	3.70%
Wapello County, Iowa	20.60%	11.88%	13.53%
Webster County, Iowa	21.52%	5.84%	8.51%
Winneshiek County, Iowa	0.79%	14.74%	22.65%
Worth County, Iowa	21.68%	14.53%	22.42%

In the 2016 presidential election, Donald Trump (R) won Iowa with 51.1 percent of the vote. Hillary Clinton (D) received 41.7 percent. In presidential elections between 1848 and 2016, Iowa voted Republican 69.76 percent of the time and Democratic 30.23 percent of the time. In the five presidential elections between 2000 and 2016, Iowa voted Democratic three times and Republican the other two times.^[3]

Presidential results by legislative district

The following table details results of the 2012 and 2016 presidential elections by state House districts in Iowa. Click [show] to expand the table. The "Obama," "Romney," "Clinton," and "Trump" columns describe the percent of the vote each presidential candidate received in the district. The "2012 Margin" and "2016 Margin" columns describe the margin of victory between the two presidential candidates in those years. The "Party Control" column notes which party held that seat heading into the 2018 general election. Data on the results of the 2012 and 2016 presidential elections broken down by state legislative districts was compiled by Daily Kos.^[4]^[5]

In 2012, Barack Obama (D) won 61 out of 100 state House districts in Iowa with an average margin of victory of 19.1 points. In 2016, Hillary Clinton (D) won 35 out of 100 state House districts in Iowa with an average margin of victory of 18.8 points. Clinton won four districts controlled by Republicans heading into the 2018 elections.

In 2012, Mitt Romney (R) won 39 out of 100 state House districts in Iowa with an average margin of victory of 13.3 points. In 2016, Donald Trump (R) won 65 out of 100 state House districts in Iowa with an average margin of victory of 24.5 points. Trump won 10 districts controlled by Democrats heading into the 2018 elections.

2016 presidential results by state House district
District	Obama	Romney	2012 Margin	Clinton	Trump	2016 Margin	Party Control
1	30.96%	67.78%	R+36.8	22.23%	73.81%	R+51.6	R
2	41.86%	56.83%	R+15	27.53%	67.70%	R+40.2	R
3	31.57%	67.31%	R+35.7	20.73%	74.78%	R+54.1	R
4	15.63%	83.55%	R+67.9	12.95%	81.67%	R+68.7	R
5	33.00%	65.90%	R+32.9	22.28%	73.69%	R+51.4	R
6	44.39%	54.40%	R+10	32.54%	62.36%	R+29.8	R
7	46.87%	51.82%	R+5	31.96%	62.86%	R+30.9	R
8	43.04%	55.84%	R+12.8	28.52%	67.11%	R+38.6	R
9	54.26%	44.65%	D+9.6	39.33%	55.29%	R+16	D
10	40.15%	58.39%	R+18.2	25.64%	69.78%	R+44.1	R
11	42.76%	56.17%	R+13.4	30.87%	64.40%	R+33.5	R
12	46.14%	52.95%	R+6.8	30.92%	64.32%	R+33.4	R
13	54.28%	44.37%	D+9.9	42.30%	52.03%	R+9.7	D
14	59.33%	39.34%	D+20	47.69%	47.27%	D+0.4	D
15	57.12%	41.17%	D+16	41.89%	51.48%	R+9.6	D
16	52.01%	46.46%	D+5.5	41.84%	51.76%	R+9.9	R
17	41.10%	57.71%	R+16.6	25.76%	70.01%	R+44.3	R
18	41.98%	56.88%	R+14.9	28.11%	67.52%	R+39.4	R
19	40.80%	57.87%	R+17.1	36.54%	56.73%	R+20.2	R
20	48.77%	49.62%	R+0.9	35.39%	59.04%	R+23.6	R
21	45.01%	53.64%	R+8.6	29.35%	65.17%	R+35.8	R
22	36.78%	62.08%	R+25.3	29.64%	65.50%	R+35.9	R
23	40.72%	57.80%	R+17.1	27.37%	66.81%	R+39.4	R
24	39.86%	58.79%	R+18.9	25.77%	69.86%	R+44.1	R
25	44.34%	54.14%	R+9.8	34.15%	59.72%	R+25.6	R
26	50.18%	48.59%	D+1.6	39.62%	53.52%	R+13.9	D
27	47.15%	51.07%	R+3.9	30.50%	64.42%	R+33.9	R
28	47.30%	51.30%	R+4	31.76%	62.81%	R+31.1	R
29	56.05%	42.50%	D+13.6	40.78%	53.23%	R+12.5	D
30	47.66%	50.85%	R+3.2	38.47%	54.84%	R+16.4	R
31	61.55%	36.86%	D+24.7	49.75%	43.99%	D+5.8	D
32	72.88%	25.37%	D+47.5	63.69%	30.28%	D+33.4	D
33	67.30%	31.37%	D+35.9	59.50%	34.55%	D+25	D
34	68.16%	30.10%	D+38.1	60.44%	33.19%	D+27.2	D
35	77.01%	21.48%	D+55.5	70.40%	23.46%	D+46.9	D
36	65.21%	33.12%	D+32.1	63.13%	29.46%	D+33.7	D
37	43.30%	55.35%	R+12	42.10%	50.50%	R+8.4	R
38	49.33%	49.21%	D+0.1	42.85%	49.84%	R+7	R
39	43.02%	55.76%	R+12.7	43.93%	48.99%	R+5.1	R
40	49.31%	49.53%	R+0.2	50.25%	43.32%	D+6.9	D
41	67.93%	30.50%	D+37.4	69.25%	24.10%	D+45.2	D
42	49.85%	48.83%	D+1	51.15%	42.19%	D+9	R
43	50.58%	48.29%	D+2.3	52.50%	41.03%	D+11.5	R
44	42.52%	56.60%	R+14.1	44.97%	47.76%	R+2.8	R
45	60.66%	36.80%	D+23.9	57.79%	31.85%	D+25.9	D
46	59.66%	37.96%	D+21.7	57.22%	33.12%	D+24.1	D
47	52.11%	46.29%	D+5.8	38.31%	54.96%	R+16.6	R
48	47.95%	50.46%	R+2.5	36.50%	56.98%	R+20.5	R
49	46.50%	51.88%	R+5.4	36.62%	55.49%	R+18.9	R
50	42.94%	55.95%	R+13	30.36%	64.36%	R+34	R
51	55.19%	43.48%	D+11.7	35.67%	58.91%	R+23.2	R
52	56.04%	42.88%	D+13.2	37.76%	56.73%	R+19	D
53	60.98%	37.92%	D+23.1	47.69%	46.65%	D+1	D
54	44.96%	53.94%	R+9	32.11%	62.71%	R+30.6	R
55	55.19%	43.44%	D+11.8	43.51%	50.62%	R+7.1	R
56	52.01%	46.73%	D+5.3	34.91%	59.80%	R+24.9	R
57	49.00%	49.98%	R+1	37.25%	57.49%	R+20.2	R
58	55.60%	43.22%	D+12.4	37.06%	57.82%	R+20.8	R
59	56.29%	42.22%	D+14.1	51.94%	40.87%	D+11.1	D
60	50.15%	48.91%	D+1.2	45.19%	48.75%	R+3.6	R
61	63.73%	35.14%	D+28.6	52.34%	42.07%	D+10.3	D
62	76.37%	22.58%	D+53.8	62.14%	32.64%	D+29.5	D
63	49.95%	48.93%	D+1	39.04%	55.06%	R+16	R
64	57.83%	41.00%	D+16.8	40.27%	53.42%	R+13.1	D
65	66.77%	31.71%	D+35.1	61.58%	31.29%	D+30.3	D
66	57.43%	41.04%	D+16.4	53.11%	39.91%	D+13.2	D
67	49.18%	49.50%	R+0.3	47.22%	45.74%	D+1.5	R
68	54.45%	44.08%	D+10.4	48.20%	44.50%	D+3.7	R
69	65.87%	32.63%	D+33.2	52.73%	40.24%	D+12.5	D
70	63.00%	35.67%	D+27.3	53.85%	39.20%	D+14.7	D
71	56.62%	42.23%	D+14.4	48.02%	46.57%	D+1.5	D
72	50.86%	47.88%	D+3	34.92%	59.56%	R+24.6	R
73	54.19%	44.65%	D+9.5	43.25%	51.15%	R+7.9	R
74	67.17%	31.21%	D+36	69.14%	24.89%	D+44.3	D
75	49.36%	49.39%	R+0	34.09%	60.12%	R+26	R
76	50.61%	47.97%	D+2.6	40.64%	53.90%	R+13.3	R
77	58.46%	40.34%	D+18.1	53.49%	39.62%	D+13.9	D
78	46.21%	51.69%	R+5.5	34.06%	60.08%	R+26	R
79	35.86%	62.79%	R+26.9	25.96%	67.84%	R+41.9	R
80	45.03%	53.56%	R+8.5	27.04%	68.71%	R+41.7	R
81	56.57%	41.86%	D+14.7	39.52%	55.89%	R+16.4	D
82	49.74%	47.90%	D+1.8	36.54%	57.76%	R+21.2	D
83	58.67%	39.72%	D+19	40.42%	53.35%	R+12.9	D
84	46.37%	52.04%	R+5.7	30.59%	63.23%	R+32.6	R
85	71.79%	26.07%	D+45.7	74.26%	19.90%	D+54.4	D
86	72.99%	24.97%	D+48	72.34%	21.06%	D+51.3	D
87	62.60%	36.08%	D+26.5	48.53%	45.49%	D+3	D
88	50.88%	47.86%	D+3	35.94%	58.76%	R+22.8	R
89	63.19%	35.77%	D+27.4	52.47%	40.86%	D+11.6	D
90	73.49%	24.97%	D+48.5	57.98%	34.93%	D+23.1	D
91	57.61%	40.97%	D+16.6	43.65%	49.75%	R+6.1	R
92	53.94%	45.00%	D+8.9	42.25%	51.61%	R+9.4	R
93	56.63%	42.22%	D+14.4	50.96%	42.21%	D+8.7	D
94	45.18%	53.87%	R+8.7	43.91%	50.10%	R+6.2	R
95	52.01%	46.69%	D+5.3	41.86%	51.59%	R+9.7	R
96	51.83%	47.01%	D+4.8	35.42%	58.91%	R+23.5	R
97	50.63%	47.95%	D+2.7	37.14%	56.46%	R+19.3	R
98	65.29%	33.50%	D+31.8	48.47%	45.38%	D+3.1	D
99	59.37%	39.28%	D+20.1	52.61%	41.12%	D+11.5	D
100	62.95%	35.58%	D+27.4	51.37%	42.25%	D+9.1	D
Total	52.23%	46.40%	D+5.8	42.23%	51.72%	R+9.5	-
Source: Daily Kos

Recent news

The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Iowa attorney general election 2018. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.

Iowa Attorney General election, 2018 - Google News

External links

Suggest a link

Iowa attorney general official website

Footnotes

↑ Iowa Demographics, "Iowa Cities by Population," accessed September 4, 2018
↑ Iowa lost one U.S. House seat following the 2010 census.
↑ 270towin.com, "Iowa," accessed June 1, 2017
↑ Daily Kos, "Daily Kos Elections' statewide election results by congressional and legislative districts," July 9, 2013
↑ Daily Kos, "Daily Kos Elections' 2016 presidential results for congressional and legislative districts," February 6, 2017

[1] Iowa Demographics, "Iowa Cities by Population," accessed September 4, 2018

[2] Iowa lost one U.S. House seat following the 2010 census.

[3] 270towin.com, "Iowa," accessed June 1, 2017

[4] Daily Kos, "Daily Kos Elections' statewide election results by congressional and legislative districts," July 9, 2013

[5] Daily Kos, "Daily Kos Elections' 2016 presidential results for congressional and legislative districts," February 6, 2017

[1]

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Iowa Attorney General election, 2018

Contents

Candidates and election results

General election

General election for Attorney General of Iowa

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Attorney General of Iowa

State overview

Partisan control

Congressional delegation

State executives

State legislature

Trifecta status

2018 elections

Demographics

State election history

Historical elections

Presidential elections, 2000-2016

U.S. Senate elections, 2000-2016

Gubernatorial elections, 2000-2016

Congressional delegation, 2000-2016

Trifectas, 1992-2017

Pivot Counties

Presidential results by legislative district

Recent news

See also

External links

Footnotes

Information about voting

2024 Elections

2025 Elections

Analysis

Public Policy

Information for candidates

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