DES MOINES, Iowa – Democrat Liz Mathis has defeated Republican Cindy Golding in the Iowa Senate District 18 special election. Human Rights Campaign (HRC) endorsed Mathis is a pro-equality candidate and her victory means Democrats will retain a 26-24 advantage in the Iowa Senate and be able to turn back controversial legislation from the Republican-dominated Iowa House.
“Tonight I want to thank the voters of Senate District 18,” said Mathis, who launched her first campaign for public office with this special election.
“Over the past 40 days, we talked with thousands of people here. They told us they were concerned about job creation, small business growth and education funding. We listened to them and we built our campaign on addressing their concerns.”
The Iowa Independent reported that in addition to being a victory for state Democrats, the race was also welcomed as a victory for LGBT Iowans. If the outcome had been different, a possibility existed that a House Republican plan to begin a constitutional amendment process would move forward.
In fact, several regional and national social conservative organizations that object to same-sex marriage made independent expenditures in support of the GOP candidate. Just days prior to the election, a series of robocalls featuring former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee were issued by Citizens United on behalf of Golding. The National Organization for Marriage, The Family Leader and Family Research Council Action also rallied voters to support Golding based on cultural issues.
Troy Price, executive director of One Iowa, the state’s largest LGBT advocacy group, heralded the election results as “a great victory for Iowans.”
