Rep. Dean Fisher (R-Montour).

I would like to thank the voters of House District 53 for once again putting their faith in me as their Representative in the Iowa House. I am humbled and honored by your support. This will be my seventh term, and the second term in this new district that includes all of Poweshiek County and most of Tama County. With seven consecutive wins I can safely say that the conservative Republican values I have championed in the House are clearly viewed by the voters as a good fit for this rural Iowa district.

I am proud of the fact that in my seven general election races, and one contested primary, I’ve kept the campaign focused on the issues and not engaged in personal attacks, and my opponents did the same. This campaign was no exception and I want to take this opportunity to thank my opponent, Tommy Hexter, for doing the same. I know Mr. Hexter campaigned hard and I’m sure was disappointed in the results, yet he had the class to call me after the results were in Tuesday night and congratulate me. That’s the first time I’ve gotten one of those calls since my first win in 2012, and I appreciated it. I wish Tommy well in his endeavors.

The results of the election are crystal clear – Republican legislators are representing our constituents well across this state. House Republicans went into this election with a 64 to 36 seat advantage over the Democrats. We will go into the 2025 session with a 67 to 33 seat advantage, having retained every Republican incumbent that sought re-election in the House, every open seat that was a Republican seat in 2024, and picking up 3 more seats from the Democrats as well.

One of those pick up seats was by David Blom of Marshalltown who served as my legislative clerk for two sessions a few years back. David unseated two term Rep. Sue Cahill of Marshall county, winning a seat that had been held by the Democrats for nearly three decades.

Significantly, with Cahill’s defeat, the Republicans hold every House seat outside of the few major cities in Iowa. Republicans represent all or part of all 99 counties, Democrats represent parts of only 10 counties. I share this to illustrate an important point – that Iowa Republicans represent the mainstream of Iowans values as demonstrated by the overwhelming choice for Republican representation across the state.

On the Senate side, David Sires of Cedar Falls unseated Senator Eric Giddens in Senate District 38. That district includes four townships in the northeast corner of Tama County. The final count in the Senate will likely go from a 34-16 seat Republican advantage to a 35-15 advantage. There are several tight races in the Senate, the outcome is not finalized as I write this on Wednesday, Nov. 12.

In future newsletters I will discuss some of the priorities that the House will be pressing for when the 2025 session begins in January.

Rep. Dean Fisher’s district covers all of Poweshiek County and most of Tama County excluding the northeast corner.