Ballotpedia Preferred Source

Five U.S. House primaries are contested in Iowa this year — the most since 2014

By

Briana Ryan

This year’s filing deadline for candidates running for the U.S. House of Representatives in Iowa was March 13, 2026.

Five primaries — three Democratic and two Republican — are contested this year. That’s the highest total number of contested primaries since 2014. There were three contested primaries in 2024, one in 2022, four in 2020, four in 2018, four in 2016, and four in 2014.

Here are some other highlights from this year’s filings:

  • Fifteen candidates — nine Democrats and six Republicans — are running for Iowa’s four U.S. House districts. Eleven candidates ran in 2024, 10 ran in 2022, 18 ran in 2020, 16 ran in 2018, 13 ran in 2016, and 21 ran in 2014.
  • This year, there are 3.8 candidates per district. There were 2.8 candidates in 2024, 2.5 in 2022, 4.5 in 2020, four in 2018, 3.3 in 2016, and 3.5 in 2014.
  • Iowa’s 2nd Congressional District and Iowa’s 4th Congressional District are open this year. The incumbent in Iowa’s 2nd Congressional District, Rep. Ashley Hinson (R), is running for the U.S. Senate. The incumbent in Iowa’s 4th Congressional District, Rep. Randy Feenstra (R), is running for governor of Iowa. One district was open in 2020, and two were in 2014 — those were the only other election cycles since 2014 in which districts were open.
  • Five candidates — three Democrats and two Republicans — are running for Iowa’s 2nd Congressional District. That’s the most candidates running for a district this year.
  • Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R) in Iowa’s 1st Congressional District is the only incumbent facing a primary challenge this year. Two incumbents faced primary challengers in 2024, none in 2022, one in 2020, one in 2018, two in 2016, and none in 2014.
  • Candidates filed to run in the Republican and Democratic primaries in all four districts, meaning no districts are guaranteed to either party.

Iowa and five other states — California, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, and South Dakota — are holding U.S. House primaries on June 2, 2026.

In Iowa, the candidate who receives the most votes in the primary election becomes the party's nominee for the general election, unless more than two candidates run in the primary and no candidate receives more than 35% of the vote. In that case, the nominee must be chosen by party convention or party committee, depending on the office.