91st General Assembly · Funnel one-pager · Monday, November 9, 2026

SSB 1013: Requiring primary elections for the nomination of candidates for city, school district, and merged area elections, and including applicability provisions

Died when the session ended · The General Assembly adjourned on October 2, 2026. Bills that didn’t pass both chambers died.

What it does

This bill relates to nominations of candidates for elections to city, school district, and merged area offices. The bill requires candidates for such elections to be nominated by primary elections held pursuant to Code chapter (partisan nominations —— primary election). Currently such elections are nonpartisan except for special charter cities under Code chapter 420. The bill repeals other methods for the nomination of candidates, including nominations by petition and runoff elections. The bill allows the board of supervisors of a county to decide whether to conduct an election using an optical scan voting system or by counting ballots by hand. The bill applies to elections held on or after January 1, 2027.

Cost

No fiscal note

Senate subcommittee · named January 13, 2026

Sen. Scott Webster (R) · scott.webster@legis.iowa.gov
Sen. Dawn Driscoll (R) · dawn.driscoll@legis.iowa.gov
Sen. Izaah Knox (D) · izaah.knox@legis.iowa.gov

Lobbying · 1 for, 11 against

For: VALOR Iowa

Against: AFSCME Council 61; Better Ballot Iowa; City of Waukee; Iowa Association of Community College Trustees; Iowa Atheists and Freethinkers; Iowa League of Cities; Iowa State Association of County Auditors; Iowa State Education Association; Rural School Advocates of Iowa; School Administrators of Iowa; Urban Education Network of Iowa

In plain words

January 14, 2025Filed in the Senate and sent to the Local Government committee
January 14, 2025Senate subcommittee named: Westrich, Driscoll and Knox
January 13, 2026Senate subcommittee named: Webster, Driscoll and Knox