Electoral MeridianIndependent Election Research

Forecasts. Results. Evidence.

States ยท Iowa

Benton County, Iowa

2026 election results. Zach Lahn (R) got 54% of the vote for governor in Benton County. The margin is 25.5 points more Democratic than the 2024 presidential vote here. Below are also 11 local contests from the state's own results.

2026 results in Benton County

U.S. Senate

Ashley Hinson
57.4%6,834
Josh Turek
39.5%4,700
Thomas Laehn
3.1%368
100% counted

Statewide: Josh Turek wins. Called.

Governor

Zach Lahn
54.1%6,456
Rob Sand
45.9%5,482
100% counted

Statewide: Rob Sand wins. Called.

U.S. House: Iowa 2nd District

Joe Mitchell
57.2%6,709
Lindsay James
37.1%4,354
Rick Stewart
3.6%428
Dave Bushaw
2.1%241
100% counted

Whole district: Lindsay James wins. Called.

The leader in Benton County is only who has the most votes counted here. Races are won statewide or district-wide, and only the race pages report calls. Last vote update here Nov 9, 3:50 PM.

11 local contests in Benton County

Local measures and judges on Benton County's ballots, from Iowa's official results file. Names are as the state prints them. "Ahead" describes the current count; it isn't a race call, and we don't call measures. Source delayed. The last usable results are shown.

Local measures

Independence School - Public Measure CE

ChoiceVotesShare
Yes466.7%
No233.3%

Yes ahead with 66.7% in Benton County. The contest crosses into 1 other county; across all of them: No 2,170 (51.6%), Yes 2,037 (48.4%).

Kirkwood Community College - Public Measure NC

ChoiceVotesShare
Yes6,34960.3%
No4,18139.7%

Yes ahead with 60.3% in Benton County. The contest crosses into 17 other counties; across all of them: Yes 147,362 (69.8%), No 63,690 (30.2%).

Judges

Court of Appeals Judge - Sharon Soorholtz Greer

ChoiceVotesShare
Yes5,66868.8%
No2,57131.2%

Yes ahead with 68.8% in Benton County. The contest crosses into 98 other counties; across all of them: Yes 679,101 (71.3%), No 273,907 (28.7%).

Court of Appeals Judge - John M. Sandy

ChoiceVotesShare
Yes5,85570.5%
No2,45229.5%

Yes ahead with 70.5% in Benton County. The contest crosses into 98 other counties; across all of them: Yes 673,328 (70.9%), No 277,019 (29.1%).

Court of Appeals Judge - Julie A. Schumacher

ChoiceVotesShare
Yes5,97872.0%
No2,32828.0%

Yes ahead with 72.0% in Benton County. The contest crosses into 98 other counties; across all of them: Yes 707,287 (73.8%), No 251,442 (26.2%).

District 6 Judge - Jason D. Besler

ChoiceVotesShare
Yes5,88971.2%
No2,38728.8%

Yes ahead with 71.2% in Benton County. The contest crosses into 5 other counties; across all of them: Yes 106,464 (71.2%), No 42,972 (28.8%).

District 6 Judge - Mark Fisher

ChoiceVotesShare
Yes5,74569.6%
No2,51530.4%

Yes ahead with 69.6% in Benton County. The contest crosses into 5 other counties; across all of them: Yes 102,636 (68.5%), No 47,280 (31.5%).

District 6 Judge - Michael Harris

ChoiceVotesShare
Yes5,78770.7%
No2,40229.3%

Yes ahead with 70.7% in Benton County. The contest crosses into 5 other counties; across all of them: Yes 107,354 (71.8%), No 42,258 (28.2%).

District 6 Associate Judge - Angie Johnston

ChoiceVotesShare
Yes5,88271.0%
No2,40629.0%

Yes ahead with 71.0% in Benton County. The contest crosses into 5 other counties; across all of them: Yes 109,552 (73.2%), No 40,124 (26.8%).

District 6 Associate Judge - Casey D. Jones

ChoiceVotesShare
Yes5,91771.8%
No2,32928.2%

Yes ahead with 71.8% in Benton County. The contest crosses into 5 other counties; across all of them: Yes 110,358 (73.3%), No 40,254 (26.7%).

District 6 Associate Judge - Kristin Schneider

ChoiceVotesShare
Yes5,71969.6%
No2,49530.4%

Yes ahead with 69.6% in Benton County. The contest crosses into 5 other counties; across all of them: Yes 102,733 (68.9%), No 46,426 (31.1%).

Iowa's official results, file posted Nov 13, 3:23 PM. Unofficial until certified.

Compared with 2024

RaceMargin2024 presidentShift
IA SenateR +18.5R +33.7D +15.2
IA GovernorR +8.2R +33.7D +25.5
IA-02R +21.3R +33.7D +12.4

Margins compare the Democrat and the Republican only. The 2024 column is the presidential margin in the same places as each race's votes here. Shift is this year's margin minus it, shown once at least 90% of the expected vote is counted. A dash means there's no 2024 figure for those exact places.

How Benton County has voted for president

YearDemocratShareRepublicanShareMarginVotes
2024Kamala Harris32.7%Donald Trump65.8%R +33.214,509
2020Joe Biden35.2%Donald Trump62.8%R +27.514,639
2016Hillary Clinton33.8%Donald Trump59.5%R +25.713,844
2012Barack Obama48.9%Mitt Romney49.5%R +0.614,023
2008Barack Obama51.5%John McCain47.0%D +4.513,712
2004John Kerry50.0%George W. Bush49.3%D +0.713,501
2000Al Gore50.3%George W. Bush46.5%D +3.811,766

Shares are of all presidential votes, and the margin is the Democrat's share minus the Republican's. Since 2000, the presidential margin here has moved R +37.0.

Other counties in Iowa

Iowa results

Sources & scope

Votes for 2026 come from the count this site reads, by county. They're unofficial until Iowa certifies them. Past presidential votes are from MEDSL and VEST, via Polling Forecast. Iowa's own results, deadlines and offices are on the state page.