Pate Leads Peterman in Iowa Secretary of State Race
Incumbent Republican Paul Pate holds an early lead over Democratic challenger Ryan Peterman with 94 counties reporting unofficial results.
Updated on Nov. 4, 2026 in Elections
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Paul Pate held 53% of the vote to Ryan Peterman's 47% in the Iowa secretary of state race with 94 counties reporting. The results are unofficial.
Why it matters
The secretary of state oversees elections across Iowa, including 99 county auditors, so the outcome affects how voting is administered statewide. The race followed clashes between the candidates over election administration.
Pate has served as Iowa's secretary of state since 2015 and previously held the office from 1995 to 1998. Final certified totals for the remaining counties were not yet available.
The players
Paul Pate
Paul Pate is Iowa's Republican secretary of state, who has held the office since 2015 and previously served as a state senator and mayor of Cedar Rapids.
Ryan Peterman
Ryan Peterman is the Democratic challenger in the Iowa secretary of state race, a former Navy pilot who has never previously held public office.
The details
Pate, who previously served as a state senator and mayor of Cedar Rapids, is 68 and Peterman, a former Navy pilot who has never held public office, is 35. Pate turned over the state's voter registration database, including driver's license numbers and partial Social Security numbers, to the Department of Justice this spring under federal law.
Timeline
2015: Pate began his current term as Iowa's secretary of state.
May 2026: Pate turned over the voter registration database to the Department of Justice.
November 3, 2026: Unofficial results were reported with 94 counties reporting.
Political Context
Pate's office and the Attorney General's office concluded federal law required compliance with the Justice Department request for voter data, a request that grew out of President Donald Trump's effort to crack down on claimed widespread voter fraud. Among the 25 states that fought the federal voter data request, Iowa complied, and the race now tests voters' view of that decision.
The outcome determines who oversees Iowa's 99 county auditors and the administration of elections across the state. Iowa requires paper ballots, voter identification at the polls, voting equipment tests, and election results auditing.
The takeaway
Voters choosing a secretary of state are effectively choosing who runs the mechanics of their elections, so the final certified count matters as much as the early lead.
Further reading
Explore more on Elections in Iowa for background on how the state runs its voting system.
Source note: This article includes information reported by Des Moines Register.
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