Democrat Angel Ramirez defeated Republican Bernie Hayes in an Iowa special election for the State House, in what the Democratic Party hailed as a “clear rebuke of Trump.”
Ramirez secured 79 percent of the vote versus Hayes’ 21 percent, according to preliminary results for the state’s 78th district in Cedar Rapids.
But turnout was just 3,470, or 17.4 percent of registered voters in the district—down sharply from the 11,168 votes in 2024.
This was a safe democrat seat, Ramirez is replacing guy who was a union organizer before becoming a state senator. Cedar Rapids is a fairly liberal area, it’s one of 3 to 5 blue dots in Iowa every election. The other two being Iowa City and Des Moines.
This isn’t a clear rebuke of anything, of anything it’s an omen when so few people even bothered to vote.