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July 14th Len’s Political Note #738 Catelin Drey Iowa State Senate District 01
2025 Special Election
Catelin Drey
Here is a chance to make a difference. At this moment, the Iowa State Senate has 33 Republicans, 16 Democrats. The single vacancy will be filled on August 28, 2025. A Democratic victory in the special election would put an end to the Republican supermajority. For the time being of course. Half of Iowa’s State Senators will be up for election in November 26.
Iowa has already had three special elections for the state legislature In 2025 – a Senate seat and two House seats These elections made some national news.
Democrat Mike Zimmer defeated Republican Katie Whittington, flipping a Republican seat. This was a seat that the Republican had last won with 61% of the vote. Republicans won one of the two House seats, but in both cases there were huge shifts toward the Democrats. The Republican elected in March won with 51.5% of the vote in a seat that the Republican had won in the previous election with 68% of the votes. The Democrat who won the House seat in the April special election won by a much larger margin than the 2024 general election margin.
Here is an “if”: If the Democrat win Senate Seat 01 in the Special Election and end the Republican supermajority for the rest of the legislative session, Democrats will be able to block the appointment of dangerous judges and agency heads.
Here are more “ifs.” If the Democrats can sustain that encroachment on the supermajority in the November election. If the Democratic State Auditor Bob Sand can get himself elected Governor in 2026 (not an impossible proposition), Democrats will have prevented Republicans from overriding Bob Sand’s vetoes.
Even without this succession of “ifs” luring us to donate money to the Democratic candidate in Iowa’s state senate special election, we can relish the idea of defeating the Republican candidate simply because of who he is.
Christopher Prosch is the Republican nominee. He is a Republican professional in Iowa, particularly supporting far-right Republicans. Prosch believes that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from Donald Trump. He has some thoughts about who was “really” responsible for the 9/11 attacks. He is an absolutist opponent of abortion – arguing, for instance, against a rape exception to an abortion prohibition. He believes women should be required to give birth to babies that are a product of rape.
Here is another thought the Republican nominee has about abortion. He asks: “Who was worse? The Nazi Germans who killed 10 million Jews and many other people? Or the left’s policies to target an entire generation of babies to death?”
The Democratic nominee is Catelin Drey. She is an Account Supervisor at Antidote 71, a business that describes itself as a “Digital and Traditional Marketing Agency.” She is also a founder of “Moms for Iowa” which is described as an activist organization that can “effect change” through “phone calls, letters, and grassroots awareness.” The changes she wants? “affordable and accessible childcare, bodily autonomy, equitable access to health care, fully funded public education, and economic mobility.”
Originally from North Dakota, 38 year old Catelin Drey came to Sioux City, Iowa to attend Morningside University, a private institution affiliated with the United Methodist Church. Her degree was in photography and Spanish. The Spanish allowed her to teach first grade in Honduras. Her new roots in Iowa led her to apolitical activity including service as past president of Siouxland Growth Organization and as a board member of the Ronald McDonald House of Siouxland as well as her political activism.
In 2024, Donald Trump carried State Senate District 01 55-44. People have been tracking special election Democratic overperformances this year. In 2025, the average overperformance by Democrats in comparison with Trump in 2024 has been about 15 points. If Catelin Drey can meet or better that average, she will win this special election. Help her. Help her now. The election on August 28 is a little more than a month away. DONATE
The Upcoming races in Iowa. Because early money is so important, I am making earlier suggestions than in the past.
JD Scholten
US Senate. The incumbent Republican is Jodi Ernst. Recently, in a town hall meeting for constituents, during a question about when were then proposed cuts to Medicaid, a constituent shouted that people will die because of the cuts. Ernst’s response, “Everybody is going to die” will haunt her and may defeat her in November. DONATE to JD Scholten. State Rep and, at 45, still pitching for the Sioux City Explorers. Other Democrats in the race include Chamber of Commerce official Nathan Sage and State Rep Zach Wahls. See Len’s Political Note #733
Rob Sand
Governor. The incumbent Republican Governor, rated among the least popular governors in the country, is not running for reelection. The only Democrat holding state-wide office, State Auditor Rob Sand has announced his candidacy. A Truman scholar at Brown, a JD from Iowa, an intern for former Democratic US Senator Tom Harkin, Rob Sand has been a model of what a Democrat can do in Iowa. DONATE to his campaign. The Republicans have four announced candidates for the job.
Christina Bohannan
Iowa 01. The incumbent Republican Rep Marionette Miller-Meeks claims to be a moderate, but rarely comes through as a moderate when she has to vote. Her claims have been enough to generate a primary opponent on her right. Law Professor and former State Rep Christina Bohannan lost to the incumbent in 2024 by 799 votes. With help she can make up those votes and more. DONATE. There are two other Democrats in the race – health care worker Travis Terrell and attorney Taylor Wettach. See Len’s Political Note #737
Other Iowa Congressional races
In Iowa 02, incumbent Republican Ashley Hinson has not yet announced a run for reelection. Former US Attorney Kevin Tachau considered a run, but decided against it because the fund raising was too daunting. In Iowa 03 Democrats have two candidates: State Senator Sarah Trone Garriott and State House Minority Leader Jennifer Konfrst. I do not yet have a recommendation for you. The Republicans do not yet have a candidate. The incumbent Republican Zach Nunn has been exploring alternatives in a public way that makes him vulnerable if he decides to run for reelection in Iowa 03. He is exploring the possibility of a run for governor. He is exploring the possibility of running for election in Iowa 04, which has a much more heavily Republican electorate. The Republican incumbent of Iowa 04 has announced a run for governor. Two Republicans have announced for the seat; no Democrats have, as yet, expressed interest.
