A Democrat has won a special election for an Iowa state Senate seat in a district that had been held by Republicans and had voted heavily for President Donald Trump in 2024, adding to the Democratic Party's hope that it can flip more seats during the 2026 midterm elections.
Democrat Catelin Drey handily defeated Republican Christopher Prosch in Tuesday's election, according to unofficial results from the Woodbury County Auditor's Office, for the district that covers Sioux City in the Republican stronghold of northwestern Iowa. The special election had been called after Republican Sen. Rocky de Witt died in June of pancreatic cancer.
Fewer than a quarter of registered voters turned out for the special election.
Drey's win breaks Republicans’ supermajority in the 50-member Iowa Senate, giving Democrats 17 seats to the GOP's 33. The addition of Drey's seat means Republicans would need the support of at least one Democrat to confirm appointments to state agencies and commissions by Gov. Kim Reynolds.
The win follows other Democratic victories in the state this year, including the pickup of another state Senate seat in a January special election and an Iowa House seat in April. In March, a Democratic candidate for a southeast Iowa House district narrowly lost in what would have been a typically easy win for Republicans.
The Iowa Republican Party downplayed Drey's win.
“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,” Iowa GOP Chairman Jeff Kaufmann said in a written statement.
But Democrats are buoyed by the win, saying it builds on their momentum in special elections this year — including those in districts Trump won in 2024.
“As Trump and Republicans wreck the economy and erode democracy with power-grabbing schemes, Democrats’ special election wins should send a flashing warning to the GOP: voters are rejecting the failing MAGA agenda and leaving Republican candidates in the dust,” Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee President Heather Williams said in a statement.
Democrats are hoping Drey's victory telegraphs a win for them in Iowa's U.S. Senate race next year for the seat now held by Republican Sen. Joni Ernst, who has faced recent scrutiny for comments in support of unpopular policies taken up by the Trump administration.
“I think that that is a real wake-up call to the fact that Iowans are not happy,” Iowa Democratic Party Chair Rita Hart said Wednesday, later adding, “This gives us a real reason to believe that we have every opportunity to win that Senate seat and put it in the Democratic column.”
In May, Ernst's retort about Medicaid cuts at a town hall drew a firestorm of criticism. As Ernst insisted that the legislation protects Medicaid for those who need it most, someone in the crowd yelled that people will die without coverage. Ernst responded: “Well, we all are going to die.”
Ernst has said she will announce in the coming weeks whether she'll seek reelection, but she's given every indication she intends to run. She announced a campaign manager in June as well as an October date for her annual fundraiser.
If she does run, she faces a couple of GOP primary challengers, including former state Sen. Jim Carlin and Navy veteran Joshua Smith. A crowded field of Democrats is also challenging Ernst, including Democratic Iowa state Rep. Josh Turek, state Sen. Zach Wahls, former chamber of commerce president Nathan Sage, and Des Moines School Board Chair Jackie Norris.
FILE - A man walks past the Iowa State Capitol building, March 26, 2020, in Des Moines, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall, file)
Catelin Drey, Democratic candidate for Iowa Senate District 1, speaks during an interview Tuesday, Aug. 19, 2025. She beat Republican candidate Christopher Prosch in a special election held Tuesday, Aug. 26, 2025, to fill the unexpired term of Republican Senator Rocky De Witt who died in June after battling pancreatic cancer. (Tim Hynds/Sioux City Journal via AP)
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — President Donald Trump on Thursday threatened to invoke an 1807 law and deploy troops to quell persistent protests against the federal officers sent to Minneapolis to enforce his administration's massive immigration crackdown.
The threat comes a day after a man was shot and wounded by an immigration officer who had been attacked with a shovel and broom handle. That shooting further heightened the fear and anger that has radiated across the city since an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent fatally shot Renee Good in the head.
Trump has repeatedly threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act, a rarely used federal law, to deploy the U.S. military or federalize the National Guard for domestic law enforcement, over the objections of state governors.
“If the corrupt politicians of Minnesota don’t obey the law and stop the professional agitators and insurrectionists from attacking the Patriots of I.C.E., who are only trying to do their job, I will institute the INSURRECTION ACT, which many Presidents have done before me, and quickly put an end to the travesty that is taking place in that once great State,” Trump said in social media post.
Presidents have invoked the law more than two dozen times, most recently in 1992 by President George H.W. Bush to end unrest in Los Angeles. In that instance, local authorities had asked for the assistance.
Trump has repeatedly toyed with the idea of invoking the Insurrection Act, starting in his first term, but hasn't followed through. In 2020, for example, he threatened to use the act to quell protests after George Floyd was killed by Minneapolis police.
“I’m making a direct appeal to the President: Let’s turn the temperature down. Stop this campaign of retribution. This is not who we are,” Gov. Tim Walz, a Democrat, said on X.
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said he would challenge any such action in court. He's already suing to try to stop the surge by the Department of Homeland Security, which says officers have arrested more than 2,500 people since Nov. 29 as part of an immigration operation in the Twin Cities called Metro Surge.
The operation grew when ICE sent 2,000 officers and agents to the area early in January. ICE is a DHS agency.
In Minneapolis, smoke filled the streets Wednesday night near the site of the latest shooting as federal officers wearing gas masks and helmets fired tear gas into a small crowd. Protesters responded by throwing rocks and shooting fireworks.
Demonstrations have become common in Minneapolis since Good was fatally shot on Jan. 7. Agents who have yanked people from their cars and homes have been confronted by angry bystanders demanding they leave.
“This is an impossible situation that our city is presently being put in and at the same time we are trying to find a way forward to keep people safe,” Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota filed a class-action lawsuit on behalf of three people who said they were questioned or detained in recent days. The lawsuit says two are Somali and one is Hispanic; all three are U.S. citizens. The lawsuit seeks an end to what the ACLU describes as a practice of racial profiling and warrantless arrests. The government did not immediately comment.
Similar lawsuits have been filed in Los Angeles and Chicago and despite seeing initial success, have tended to fizzle in the face of appeal. In Chicago, for example, last year a judge ordered a senior U.S. Border Patrol official to brief her nightly following a lawsuit by news outlets and protesters who said agents used too much force during demonstrations. But three days later, an appeals court stopped the updates.
Homeland Security said in a statement that federal law enforcement officers on Wednesday stopped a driver from Venezuela who is in the U.S. illegally. The person drove off then crashed into a parked car before fleeing on foot, DHS said.
Officers caught up, then two other people arrived and the three started attacking the officer, according to DHS.
“Fearing for his life and safety as he was being ambushed by three individuals, the officer fired a defensive shot to defend his life,” DHS said. The confrontation took place about 4.5 miles (7.2 kilometers) from where Good was killed.
Police chief Brian O’Hara said the man who was shot did not have a life-threatening injury. O’Hara's account of what happened largely echoed that of Homeland Security, which later said the other two men were also in the U.S. illegally from Venezuela.
The FBI said several government vehicles were damaged and property inside was stolen when agents responded to the shooting. Photos show broken windows and insults made with paint. A reward of up to $100,000 is being offered for information. The FBI’s Minneapolis office did not immediately reply to messages seeking more details.
St. Paul Public Schools, with more than 30,000 students, said it would begin offering an online learning option for students who do not feel comfortable coming to school. Schools will be closed next week until Thursday to prepare for those accommodations.
Minneapolis Public Schools, which has a similar enrollment, is also offering temporary remote learning. The University of Minnesota will start a new term next week with different options depending on the class.
Madhani reported from Washington, D.C. and Golden reported from Seattle. Associated Press reporters Sophia Tareen in Chicago; Bill Barrow in Atlanta; Rebecca Santana in Washington; and Ed White in Detroit contributed.
Federal immigration officers confront protesters outside Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Law enforcement officers at the scene of a reported shooting Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)
A woman covers her face from tear gas as federal immigration officers confront protesters outside Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)
A protester throws back a tear gas canister during a protest after a shooting on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Federal immigration officers confront protesters outside Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)
Minneapolis City Council Member Jason Chavez, second from left, blows a whistle with other activists to warn people of federal immigration officers Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Tear gas surrounds federal law enforcement officers as they leave a scene after a shooting on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)
A child and family are escorted away after federal law enforcement deployed tear gas in a neighborhood during protests on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)
A protester holds an umbrella as sparks fly from a flash bang deployed by law enforcement on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)
Monica Travis shares an embrace while visiting a makeshift memorial for Renee Good, who was fatally shot by an ICE officer last week, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)
A protester yells in front of law enforcement after a shooting on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Tear gas surrounds federal law enforcement officers as they leave a scene after a shooting on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Protesters shout at law enforcement officers after a shooting on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)
Law enforcement officers stand amid tear gas at the scene of a reported shooting Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)
