Former President Barack Obama is urging Democrats to stay “organized and support strong candidates who are focused on the issues that matter” after the party flipped an Iowa state Senate seat on Tuesday.
Democrat Catelin Drey defeated Republican Christopher Prosch with 55 percent of the vote to 45 percent, winning Iowa’s 1st Senate District and ending the GOP’s supermajority in the state Senate.
Newsweek contacted Obama for comment through the inquiry form on his official website.
Tuesday’s result was especially meaningful for Democrats since the 1st Senate District includes much of Woodbury County, which backed Donald Trump by double digits during the 2024 presidential election.
President Trump‘s net approval rating also dropped this week to -11 percentage points, according to a Newsweek tracker, his lowest since returning to office. This gave Democrats a boost of optimism as they aim to flip both the U.S. Senate and House in November 2026.
On Thursday, Obama shared an X post from the Democratic Party congratulating Drey on her victory. He added: “Here’s some good news: Catelin Drey won a special election this week to flip a seat blue in the Iowa Senate and break Republicans’ supermajority.”
With Drey’s win, Democrats now hold 17 of the 50 seats in the Iowa state Senate, breaking the Republican supermajority in place since 2022. In April, Democrat Angelina Ramirez also won a special election for a House seat in Cedar Rapids.
Obama has been active in national politics recently, weighing in on major issues. On Thursday, he criticized Trump’s deployment of National Guard and Army personnel in American cities, writing: “The erosion of basic principles like due process and the expanding use of our military on domestic soil puts the liberties of all Americans at risk, and should concern democrats and republicans alike.”
Earlier this summer, Trump sent National Guard troops and Marines to Los Angeles after anti-immigration enforcement protests turned violent. This month, he also ordered Guard units into Washington, D.C., citing a crime emergency.
Obama also backed California Governor Gavin Newsom’s redistricting plan, which experts say could cost Republicans five U.S. House seats. Newsom argued the move responds to a Texas redistricting law expected to give the GOP five new seats. California’s proposal, however, still requires voter approval in November.
On X, Obama wrote: “Since Texas is taking direction from a partisan White House and gerrymandering in the middle of a decade to try and maintain the House despite their unpopular policies, I have tremendous respect for how Governor Newsom has approached this. He’s put forward a smart, measured approach in California, designed to address a very particular problem at a very particular moment in time.”
Reactions
Obama on X: “This seat had been in Republican hands for 13 years. When we are organized and support strong candidates who are focused on the issues that matter, we can win. Let’s keep this going.”
Iowa GOP Chairman Jeff Kaufmann on X: “National Democrats were so desperate for a win that they activated 30,000 volunteers and a flood of national money to win a state senate special election by a few hundred votes. If the Democrats think things are suddenly so great again for them in Iowa, they will bring back the caucuses.”
Currently, Republicans have only a seven-seat majority in the U.S. House of Representatives. Democrats hope to win back control in the November 2026 elections, which would significantly limit Trump’s power during the final two years of his term.
