Both major parties have selected their nominees for the January 28 special election to in Iowa Senate district 35. Central DeWitt school board president Mike Zimmer was unopposed at the Democratic Party’s special nominating convention on December 30. Clinton County activist Katie Whittington prevailed in a three-way competition at the GOP special convention on January 4.

Iowa House Republican Tom Determann, who has represented House district 69 (the Clinton area) since 2023, and Clinton County farmer Dennis Campbell also competed for the GOP nomination.

Whittington has never held elective office but has volunteered for various causes locally, including Donald Trump’s presidential campaign. She describes herself as a “health freedom advocate” and has been active with the anti-vaccine organizations Children’s Health Defense and Health Freedom Iowa, for which she has served as vice president.

The Iowa Standard reported on Whittington’s remarks to the GOP nominating convention:

Whittington said she believes in Iowa values such as hard work, common sense and leaving children a better future. She called the Department of Education a “bloated bureaucracy” that needs to be dismantled. Whittington said she stands firmly for school choice.

Programs helping Iowa students pursue careers in the medical field along with incentives for those students to stay and work in Iowa have her support. She also said there is an urgent need for mental health resources.

In addition to her support of medical freedom, Whittington vowed to work hard for veterans and offered strong opposition to wind turbines and the carbon capture pipelines.

“(Carbon capture pipelines are) unnecessary, unsafe and an affront to hardworking landowners of this district,” she said. “Your property rights should never be for sale to private interest.”

Whittington then talked about the importance of securing the border before wrapping up her speech.

In a January 6 news release, Whittington said, “Ensuring low taxes, safe communities, great schools, and personal freedom motivated me to pursue public service.”

Zimmer has pledged to support policies “that ensure our public schools are stronger, wages are better, and working families have the stability and tools to thrive in today’s economy.” He and campaign volunteers have already been canvassing in Clinton and DeWitt, and he has scheduled several meet-and-greets around the district.

The Republican Party of Iowa is encouraging supporters to vote by mail in the special election, after the party invested heavily in early GOTV last year.

Zimmer and Whittington will answer questions at a January 16 candidate forum hosted by Grow Clinton and DeWitt Chamber and Development Company, KWQC-TV reported.

I am not aware of any third-party or independent candidate planning to run in Senate district 35. The deadline for other candidates to file nominating papers and a petition with at least 100 signatures from eligible voters in the district is January 14.

Senate district 35 covers Clinton County, parts of northern Scott County, and areas in Jackson County including the city of Maquoketa. Republican Chris Cournoyer previously represented this area, but resigned from the legislature last month to become Iowa’s new lieutenant governor.

The political landscape favors Whittington. The latest official figures show Senate district 35 contains 12,246 registered Democrats, 15,598 Republicans, 19,390 no-party voters, and 273 Libertarians.

Bleeding Heartland’s analysis of precinct-level results from the 2024 general election showed that voters in Senate district 35 favored former Trump over Kamala Harris by 59.7 percent to 38.6 percent. In the first Congressional district race, voters preferred Republican incumbent Mariannette Miller-Meeks over Democratic challenger Christina Bohannan by 54.6 percent to 45.2 percent.

Follow Katie Whittington’s campaign on Facebook here.

Follow Mike Zimmer’s campaign on Facebook here.

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Top photo was originally published on Jeff Kaufmann’s X/Twitter feed on January 4.