Floyd County aligns with statewide election results

By Travis Fischer, tkfischer@charlescitypress.com

With almost 7,700 votes cast and counted on Tuesday, Nov. 5, the results of Floyd County’s portion of this year’s general election largely matched the overall results seen across the state, giving the nod to the Republicans in partisan races.

For national races, Floyd County added 4,731 votes (61.96%) to Donald Trump’s tally and 2,781 votes (36.42%) for Kamala Harris. Meanwhile, U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson received re-election help from the county with 4,805 votes (65.22%) over challenger Sarah Corkery’s 2,393 votes (32.48%) for U.S. House District 2.

For the state Legislature, incumbent Republican Charley Thomson will return to Des Moines as the state representative for District 58, receiving 3,547 votes (60.02%) in Floyd County over challenger Gail Allison’s 2,353 (39.81%). His total across all three counties that are part of District 58 was 10,043 to Allison’s 5,776.

“I want to say thank you to my opponent, Gail Allison, for throwing her hat in the ring,” said Thomson. “It’s not an easy thing to do. It’s a pain in the neck as a matter of fact, but it’s a good thing for the system to have all seats contested.”

Thomson said his focus in next year’s session will be on eminent domain and watching the effects of the recent changes to AEA funding amidst concerns that rural areas will see a loss of special education services.

Floyd County also contributed to the election of District 60 Representative Jane Bloomingdale, who received 1,222 votes (99.11%) from two Floyd County precincts in her unopposed election. Meanwhile, two precincts in Floyd County also contributed to the District 30 Senate race, with Republican Doug Campbell receiving 983 votes (67.28%) over Richard Lorence’s 478 (32.72%).

Floyd County also supported two changes to the Iowa Constitution.

Amendment 1, which received 5,505 votes in favor (78.68%) and 1,492 votes opposed (21.32%) changes the constitution to set the voting age from 21 to 18 years old, to bring it in line with the U.S. Constitution, even though 18 was already the voting age in the state.

The amendment also changes the language of the constitution from declaring that “every citizen of the United States” is entitled to vote to instead state “only a citizen of the United States” is entitled to vote.

Amendment 2, which received 5,889 votes in favor (85.06%) and 1,034 votes opposed (14.94%) addressed an issue with gubernatorial succession, clarifying that in the event a lieutenant governor is elevated to governor, a vacancy is created in the office of the lieutenant governor, which allows the new governor to appoint their replacement.