Recount set for Council Bluffs legislative race

DES MOINES, Iowa (Gray Media Iowa State Capitol Bureau) — A recount will be held Monday morning in a Council Bluffs legislative race after the initial count showed Republican incumbent Brent Siegrist finished 37 votes ahead of Democratic challenger Benjamin Larson.

A new state law allows a candidate to request a recount when the margin is less than one percent, and Larson made that request.

Candidates respond

Larson told Gray Media’s Iowa Capitol Bureau he thinks the race is close because he focused on new leadership to address Iowa’s cancer crisis. He wants a recount.

Siegrist said he is not worried about a recount. He said he thinks his service to Iowans will help him win again in a year when some of his colleagues lost.

“I think just my work in the legislature and my reputation as someone who tries to get things done in the community allowed me to survive where most other districts that are similar to mine the Republicans got beat in the wave,” Siegrist said.

How the recount will work

Secretary of State Paul Pate said he received Larson’s written request for the recount Tuesday. Pate’s office has one week to prepare for the recount.

“The county auditor will bring the recount board together and they will start the process of running all the ballots. It’s about 11,000 or 10,500 roughly ballots they will run them all through the tabulator,” Pate said.

Pate said if Larson does not agree with the results of the recount, he can seek legal action.

Impact on the House

Republicans lost some seats but will keep their majority in the House regardless of the recount. Iowa House Minority Leader Brian Meyer, a Democrat, said every seat counts for his party.

“It was a repudiation of what’s going on that’s the bottom line. I really think that a lot of these Republicans just came to Des Moines and just voted however they wanted to vote,” Meyer said.

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Isabella Warren covers state government and politics for Gray Media-owned stations in Iowa. Email her at isabella.warren@kcrg.com; and follow her on Facebook at Isabella Warren TV on X/Twitter@isabellaw_gray, and on Instagram@IsabellaWarrenTV.