Iowa 38th State Senate District · the strongest Democratic and Republican presidential performances recorded here, measured three ways.
1892–2024 (partial returns from 1876) · 38 presidential cycles · 38 with a vote-share denominator · 34 with a national benchmark
Highest vote share
Largest share of the presidential candidate vote cast here.
Democratic
Lyndon B. Johnson1964
56.9%
15,575 votes · D+14.0 · modeled estimate
Runner-up · Barack Obama, 2008 · 55.9%
Republican
Warren G. Harding1920
77.7%
11,247 votes · R+60.9 · modeled estimate
Runner-up · Herbert Hoover, 1928 · 71.1%
Most votes
Largest number of votes cast for the party’s presidential nominee here.
Democratic
Barack Obama2012
19,480votes
54.5% of the vote · D+11.0 · modeled estimate
Runner-up · Barack Obama, 2008 · 19,253 votes
Republican
Ronald Reagan1984
18,929votes
54.7% of the vote · R+10.3 · modeled estimate
Runner-up · Richard Nixon, 1972 · 18,321 votes
Best relative to the U.S.
This Place’s margin against the national margin in the same election — positive when it leaned toward the party more than the country did.
Democratic
Michael Dukakis1988
+13.1pts D vs U.S.
Place D+5.3 · U.S. R+7.7 · modeled estimate
Runner-up · Walter Mondale, 1984 · +8.0 pts
Republican
Warren G. Harding1920
+34.7pts R vs U.S.
Place R+60.9 · U.S. R+26.2 · modeled estimate
Runner-up · Charles E. Hughes, 1916 · +30.5 pts
current representation
Current officeholders
RDave SiresState Senate · 38
State legislative officeholder from OpenStates nightly current-legislator data.
U.S. House elections · 3 House
Senate and governor results are in the Office selector at the top of this page.
U.S. House
Each row is a county-allocated estimate of U.S. House votes for this district — county returns apportioned onto its boundary, not precinct-counted. “Vote lead” is the estimated local lead here, not necessarily the winner of the full contest.
Source · Akashic county-allocated estimate from certified county returns, House; not precinct-counted.
Year
Vote lead
Democratic
Republican
Total
2024
R
47.3%13,876
52.7%15,442
29,318
2020
D
53.9%17,157
46.1%14,652
31,809
2018
D
56.3%14,170
43.7%10,999
25,169
In 2024 it voted Republican by R+5.2, against D+13.5 in 2008, having changed party at least once across the five cycles. About 54,000 residents lived here, with White alone at 80.7% in the 2024 ACS 5-year.
Across the recorded series it reached a Democratic high of 14.0 points in 1964 and a Republican high of 60.9 points in 1920. Between 2020 and 2024 the district moved 5.5 points toward the Republican candidate; the 2024 margin was 5.2 points.
A population of 63,383, a 89% non-Hispanic-white share, and a median household income of $79,882 describe the district. The district's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of State Senate District 18 and State Senate District 7.
Akashic
Political twins — state-senate districts
The state-senate districts whose fingerprint — 2000–2024 trajectory, demographics, ancestry, religion — sits closest to this one, and why.
Twin score (0–100) = weighted cosine between tier-standardized fingerprints: presidential margins 2000–2024 with 12-yr trend and elasticity, ACS income, age, education, population and race, top reported ancestries, and religious adherence — chips name the closest-shared dimensions and the widest gap. Re-weight the groups in the twins explorer.
Compare two places, side by side
Twelve curated comparisons line up election history, demographics, and the divergence story for two places at a glance. Browse all comparisons → · Or open the source-auditable district brief for electoral baseline, electorate, current-cycle coverage, geography, official dates, and methodology. Open campaign intelligence report →
Cite this page
All citations released under CC BY 4.0. Attribution: Akashic Intelligence.
Iowa 38th State Senate District. Akashic. https://akashic.app/sld-upper/19038/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
How did Iowa 38th State Senate District vote in 2024?
In 2024, Iowa 38th State Senate District voted Republican by 5.2 points (R+5.2), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 35,376 votes cast, 16,472 went Democratic and 18,294 went Republican.
When did Iowa 38th State Senate District last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Iowa 38th State Senate District voted Democratic was 2020.
How many people live in Iowa 38th State Senate District?
Iowa 38th State Senate District has a population of 63,383 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Iowa 38th State Senate District?
Median household income in Iowa 38th State Senate District is $79,882 — below the national median of $80,734. The Iowa state median is $75,059.
What is the political history of Iowa 38th State Senate District?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Iowa 38th State Senate District from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 11 went Democratic and 26 went Republican.