Special Election – Senate District 45

A special election was held on December 27, 2016, to fill the Iowa Senate seat left vacant by the death of Joe Seng. District 45 is comprised of 21 precincts in Scott County, most of the precincts being in the city of Davenport. Among the candidates was Libertarian Severnin Gilbert.

The campaign was a low-key event and voter turnout was expected to be low, given the timing of election day immediately after the Christmas holiday. The Democrat’s nominee was expected to win easily and he did, receiving over 73% of the vote. A Quad City Times story about the special election can be viewed here.

For this special election, the Libertarian candidate had to gather signatures in order to be on the ballot. The Republican and Democrat candidates were nominated by their respective parties, without the need for signatures. At least one local news source reported who the candidates were on November 10th, almost two weeks before the Libertarian was able to file.

With political party status, Libertarians will also be able to nominate candidates for special elections without the need to gather signatures. More importantly, Libertarians will not have to wait for open filing periods before being recognized by the media as a candidate.

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