A Republican has retained a state senate seat in northwest Iowa for his party. State Representative James Carlin of Sioux City won yesterday’s special election in Woodbury and Plymouth Counties and will be sworn in soon as a member of the Iowa Senate.
Carlin, who is an attorney, will replace former State Senator Bill Anderson of Pierson. Anderson resigned this fall to take a full-time job leading Cherokee County economic development efforts. Carlin describes the three-week special election campaign as a “sprint” and it ended with him defeating Democratic challenger Todd Wendt by about 600 votes.
Wendt, the Democratic candidate, recently retired after serving as superintendent of schools in Le Mars. Wendt won the Woodbury County side of the district by 56 votes, but Carlin carried Plymouth County by 659 votes. With this result, there will be 29 Republicans, 20 Democrats and one independent in the Iowa Senate when the legislature convenes in January.
