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United States · Election results history · 1998 governors · Iowa
Election 1998 Results

Each election opens in its own mode: the forecast before the votes are counted, the live count while races are still too close to call, and the results once every race is decided.

1998 Iowa governor election

Tom Vilsack (Democrat) beat Jim Ross Lightfoot (Republican) in Iowa in 1998, 52.3% to 46.5%, a margin of 5.8 points and 55,444 votes.

Iowa changed party: in 1994 it went Republican, for Terry E. Branstad.

Republicans led in 51 of the 99 counties and Democrats in 48. The largest, Polk, cast 125,735 votes and went to the Democrat by 19.2 points. The closest was Mitchell, where 19 votes separated the two parties.

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Early projection, based on early and incomplete polling: the likely matchups, each weighted by the betting markets' odds of both nominations, not a result. Each county is its 2024 presidential margin moved by its state's projected swing; set a national vote and every state, district and county moves by the same amount from our projection. Colours run in 100 steps from a safe Republican to a safe Democratic margin. Boundaries: US Census Bureau.

Governor

CandidatePartyVotesShare
Tom Vilsack won Democratic 500,231 52.3%
Jim Ross Lightfoot Republican 444,787 46.5%
All other candidates 11,400 1.2%
Total956,418

Every county

CountyDemocratRepublicanOthersTotalMargin
Polk 74,475 59.2% 50,342 40.0% 918 125,735 D+19.2
Linn 37,880 57.4% 27,098 41.1% 963 65,941 D+16.4
Scott 23,445 49.3% 23,633 49.7% 475 47,553 R+0.4
Black Hawk 22,861 57.9% 16,164 40.9% 486 39,511 D+16.9
Johnson 22,546 66.9% 10,666 31.6% 510 33,722 D+35.2
Dubuque 15,855 57.4% 11,486 41.6% 296 27,637 D+15.8
Woodbury 12,974 48.8% 13,279 49.9% 358 26,611 R+1.1
Story 14,599 58.4% 10,108 40.5% 276 24,983 D+18.0
Pottawattamie 8,718 40.6% 12,428 57.8% 340 21,486 R+17.3
Cerro Gordo 9,151 56.0% 6,990 42.8% 192 16,333 D+13.2
Clinton 8,185 53.1% 7,092 46.0% 133 15,410 D+7.1
Warren 7,676 54.1% 6,421 45.2% 101 14,198 D+8.8
Marshall 7,436 52.9% 6,489 46.1% 145 14,070 D+6.7
Jasper 7,669 54.9% 6,178 44.2% 124 13,971 D+10.7
Dallas 7,333 53.3% 6,284 45.6% 152 13,769 D+7.6
Des Moines 8,484 62.9% 4,892 36.3% 102 13,478 D+26.7
Webster 6,779 52.7% 5,950 46.3% 126 12,855 D+6.4
Wapello 7,205 60.9% 4,432 37.5% 187 11,824 D+23.5
Lee 7,536 63.9% 4,090 34.7% 162 11,788 D+29.2
Muscatine 5,352 50.0% 5,223 48.7% 139 10,714 D+1.2
Marion 4,433 43.9% 5,578 55.2% 90 10,101 R+11.3
Sioux 1,651 16.5% 8,302 82.9% 66 10,019 R+66.4
Boone 5,137 57.0% 3,792 42.1% 87 9,016 D+14.9
Benton 4,959 56.7% 3,671 42.0% 118 8,748 D+14.7
Bremer 4,189 50.8% 3,944 47.8% 114 8,247 D+3.0
Fayette 3,908 50.0% 3,807 48.7% 106 7,821 D+1.3
Buchanan 4,137 56.3% 3,068 41.7% 144 7,349 D+14.5
Carroll 3,596 49.1% 3,650 49.9% 71 7,317 R+0.7
Henry 4,574 63.4% 2,546 35.3% 92 7,212 D+28.1
Mahaska 2,807 40.2% 4,120 59.0% 55 6,982 R+18.8
Washington 3,560 51.3% 3,286 47.3% 96 6,942 D+3.9
Jones 3,697 53.4% 3,127 45.2% 100 6,924 D+8.2
Plymouth 2,482 36.0% 4,369 63.4% 40 6,891 R+27.4
Hardin 3,351 48.9% 3,421 50.0% 75 6,847 R+1.0
Winneshiek 3,394 50.3% 3,261 48.3% 99 6,754 D+2.0
Kossuth 3,480 51.6% 3,206 47.5% 61 6,747 D+4.1
Poweshiek 3,311 50.5% 3,139 47.9% 104 6,554 D+2.6
Clayton 3,332 50.9% 3,129 47.8% 87 6,548 D+3.1
Tama 3,548 54.9% 2,840 43.9% 75 6,463 D+11.0
Jefferson 3,160 49.4% 2,633 41.1% 609 6,402 D+8.2
Jackson 3,602 56.4% 2,719 42.6% 62 6,383 D+13.8
Cedar 3,175 51.8% 2,870 46.8% 86 6,131 D+5.0
Delaware 2,881 47.2% 3,143 51.5% 79 6,103 R+4.3
Clay 2,968 49.1% 3,021 50.0% 59 6,048 R+0.9
Dickinson 3,018 50.0% 2,923 48.5% 89 6,030 D+1.6
Floyd 3,065 51.7% 2,772 46.7% 97 5,934 D+4.9
Hamilton 2,950 50.9% 2,799 48.3% 43 5,792 D+2.6
Iowa 2,820 48.7% 2,855 49.3% 114 5,789 R+0.6
Buena Vista 2,570 45.2% 2,987 52.5% 130 5,687 R+7.3
Chickasaw 2,947 53.5% 2,479 45.0% 85 5,511 D+8.5
Madison 2,716 49.6% 2,695 49.2% 64 5,475 D+0.4
Page 1,353 24.8% 4,078 74.7% 26 5,457 R+49.9
Crawford 2,151 41.3% 3,011 57.8% 51 5,213 R+16.5
Cass 1,799 35.8% 3,187 63.4% 39 5,025 R+27.6
Butler 2,215 44.3% 2,721 54.4% 68 5,004 R+10.1
O'Brien 1,589 32.5% 3,245 66.5% 48 4,882 R+33.9
Grundy 1,916 40.1% 2,818 59.0% 40 4,774 R+18.9
Cherokee 2,216 46.7% 2,466 51.9% 67 4,749 R+5.3
Wright 2,275 48.7% 2,374 50.8% 25 4,674 R+2.1
Allamakee 2,188 47.0% 2,398 51.5% 74 4,660 R+4.5
Union 2,153 46.3% 2,471 53.1% 28 4,652 R+6.8
Harrison 1,634 36.5% 2,789 62.2% 58 4,481 R+25.8
Shelby 1,521 34.0% 2,925 65.4% 24 4,470 R+31.4
Sac 1,947 44.3% 2,400 54.6% 49 4,396 R+10.3
Guthrie 2,183 50.0% 2,131 48.8% 53 4,367 D+1.2
Mitchell 2,097 49.0% 2,116 49.4% 67 4,280 R+0.4
Hancock 1,874 44.9% 2,260 54.1% 43 4,177 R+9.2
Winnebago 2,017 48.3% 2,111 50.6% 48 4,176 R+2.3
Montgomery 1,160 28.5% 2,879 70.7% 34 4,073 R+42.2
Keokuk 2,015 50.8% 1,901 47.9% 51 3,967 D+2.9
Lyon 952 24.2% 2,946 74.9% 37 3,935 R+50.7
Greene 2,081 53.0% 1,798 45.8% 44 3,923 D+7.2
Calhoun 1,712 43.8% 2,145 54.9% 53 3,910 R+11.1
Appanoose 1,899 48.8% 1,951 50.1% 42 3,892 R+1.3
Franklin 1,891 48.7% 1,931 49.8% 57 3,879 R+1.0
Humboldt 1,781 46.2% 2,029 52.7% 42 3,852 R+6.4
Mills 1,223 31.9% 2,570 67.0% 42 3,835 R+35.1
Palo Alto 2,061 55.4% 1,635 44.0% 23 3,719 D+11.5
Howard 1,953 52.8% 1,686 45.6% 62 3,701 D+7.2
Monona 1,712 47.4% 1,825 50.5% 77 3,614 R+3.1
Clarke 1,687 48.4% 1,754 50.3% 47 3,488 R+1.9
Adair 1,473 42.5% 1,966 56.7% 30 3,469 R+14.2
Emmet 1,741 50.3% 1,681 48.6% 37 3,459 D+1.7
Louisa 1,829 53.6% 1,552 45.5% 31 3,412 D+8.1
Worth 1,684 52.0% 1,488 46.0% 66 3,238 D+6.1
Decatur 1,389 45.6% 1,621 53.3% 33 3,043 R+7.6
Lucas 1,474 49.1% 1,502 50.0% 28 3,004 R+0.9
Ida 1,204 40.4% 1,730 58.0% 48 2,982 R+17.6
Davis 1,590 53.4% 1,337 44.9% 49 2,976 D+8.5
Pocahontas 1,448 48.7% 1,473 49.6% 50 2,971 R+0.8
Van Buren 1,386 48.1% 1,449 50.3% 47 2,882 R+2.2
Monroe 1,579 55.2% 1,245 43.5% 38 2,862 D+11.7
Fremont 794 29.8% 1,848 69.3% 26 2,668 R+39.5
Audubon 1,214 46.2% 1,402 53.3% 14 2,630 R+7.1
Taylor 991 39.6% 1,486 59.4% 23 2,500 R+19.8
Wayne 1,113 45.4% 1,327 54.2% 10 2,450 R+8.7
Ringgold 1,037 44.0% 1,293 54.9% 26 2,356 R+10.9
Osceola 718 32.5% 1,464 66.4% 24 2,206 R+33.8
Adams 735 42.5% 975 56.4% 19 1,729 R+13.9

Margin: the Democrat's share of all votes minus the Republican's. Sources and how the results were checked.

Iowa governor elections we hold

YearWinnerMargin
2022 Kim Reynolds (R) R+18.5
2018 Kim Reynolds (R) R+2.7
2014 Terry E. Branstad (R) R+21.7
2010 Terry E. Branstad (R) R+9.6
2006 Chet Culver (D) D+9.6
2002 Tom Vilsack (D) D+8.2
1998 Tom Vilsack (D) D+5.8
1994 Terry E. Branstad (R) R+15.2
1990 Terry E. Branstad (R) R+21.8
1986 Terry E. Branstad (R) R+3.9
1982 Terry E. Branstad (R) R+6.3
1978 Robert E. Ray (R) R+17.3
1974 Robert E. Ray (R) R+17.1
1972 Robert E. Ray (R) R+18.2
1970 Robert E. Ray (R) R+4.4
1968 Robert E. Ray (R) R+8.2
1966 Harold E. Hughes (D) D+11.2
1964 Harold E. Hughes (D) D+36.8
1962 Harold E. Hughes (D) D+5.1
1960 Norman A. Erbe (R) R+4.3
1958 Herschel C. Loveless (D) D+8.3
1956 Herschel C. Loveless (D) D+2.4
1954 Leo A. Hoegh (R) R+3.0
1952 William Beardsley (R) R+4.1
1950 William Beardsley (R) R+18.6
1948 William Beardsley (R) R+12.0
1946 Robert D. Blue (R) R+15.3
1944 Robert D. Blue (R) R+12.4
1942 Bourke B. Hickenlooper (R) R+25.8
1940 George Wilson (R) R+5.7
1938 George Wilson (R) R+7.0
1936 Nelson G. Kraschel (D) D+0.2
1934 Clyde L. Herring (D) D+8.2
1932 Clyde LaVerne Herring (D) D+5.5
1930 Dan W. Turner (R) R+32.1
1928 John Hammill (R) R+25.6
1926 John Hammill (R) R+42.9
1924 John Hammill (R) R+45.4
1922 Nathan E. Kendall (R) R+41.1
1920 Nathan E. Kendall (R) R+20.0
1918 William L. Harding (R) R+3.6
1916 William L. Harding (R) R+24.6
1914 George W. Clarke (R) R+6.4
1912 George W. Clarke (R) R+0.4
1910 Beryl F. Carroll (R) R+4.4
1908 Beryl F. Carroll (R) R+12.8
1906 Albert B. Cummins (R) R+4.8
1903 Albert B. Cummins (R) R+18.9
1901 Albert B. Cummins (R) R+21.3
1899 Leslie M. Shaw (R) R+13.0
1897 Leslie M. Shaw (R) R+6.8
1895 Francis M. Drake (R) R+14.8
1893 Frank D. Jackson (R) R+7.7
1891 Horace Boies (D) D+2.0
1889 Horace Boies (D) D+1.8
1887 William Larrabee (R) R+4.7
1885 William Larrabee (R) R+2.0
1883 Buren R. Sherman (R) R+7.4
1881 Buren R. Sherman (R) R+25.5
1879 John Henry Gear (R) R+24.7
1877 John Henry Gear (R) R+17.1
1875 Samuel Jordan Kirkwood (R) R+14.4
1873 Cyrus Clay Carpenter (R) R+56.0
1871 Cyrus Clay Carpenter (R) R+23.2
1869 Samuel Merrill (R) R+25.9
1867 Samuel Merrill (R) R+17.8
1865 William M. Stone (R) R+13.1