Iowa Secretary of State: Pate vs. Peterman

About the Office

The Iowa Secretary of State is Iowa's chief elections officer and business registration officer, elected to a four-year term. The office administers federal and state elections, certifies election results, maintains voter rolls, registers businesses, and oversees the state's notary public program.

This office decides how Iowa elections are administered like voter ID requirements, mail-in ballot rules, early voting periods, and which technology counties use for voting. It also processes every business filing in the state.

Race at a Glance

Incumbent

Pate (R)

Term Length

4 Years

Election Day

Nov 3, 2026

Paul Pate is the longest-serving Secretary of State in Iowa history. Ryan Peterman, a 34-year-old former Navy helicopter pilot and Naval Academy graduate, won the Democratic nomination.

The Candidates

Each candidate's positions are drawn from primary sources: campaign communications, voting records, debates, and direct interviews.

Paul Pate (R)

Republican incumbent · Iowa Secretary of State (4 non-consecutive terms)

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Bio and Career

Pate was born in Ottumwa and grew up in Linn County. He earned an associate's degree from Kirkwood Community College in 1978 and built his business career as owner of a paving construction firm in Cedar Rapids, work that later earned him recognition as a Small Business Administration business leader. In 1988, at age 29, he was elected to the Iowa State Senate representing northeast Cedar Rapids and parts of Linn, Buchanan, and Delaware counties. He was the youngest member of the chamber at the time and served two terms through 1995.

Pate was first elected Iowa Secretary of State in 1994, serving from 1995 to 1999 under Gov. Terry Branstad. He did not seek reelection in 1998, instead running unsuccessfully for the Republican gubernatorial nomination. He then served two terms as Mayor of Cedar Rapids (2002–2006) and was elected President of the Iowa League of Cities, representing more than 870 municipalities. He returned to the Secretary of State's office in 2015 after winning the 2014 general election over Democrat Brad Anderson, and has been reelected in 2018 and 2022, defeating his opponent Joel Miller by more than 20 points.

Pate is now serving his fourth term and is the second-longest-serving Secretary of State in Iowa history. During his current tenure he instituted online voter registration, established the Safe at Home address confidentiality program for survivors of domestic violence and trafficking, and backed the 2017 Election Integrity Act that brought voter ID requirements to Iowa. Ahead of the 2024 election he directed county auditors to challenge the registrations of more than 2,000 voters flagged as potential noncitizens using Iowa DOT data. This directive drew legal challenges over the accuracy of the list. He served as President of the National Association of Secretaries of State in 2019–20 and currently co-chairs the NASS Elections Committee. MIT ranks Iowa among the top three states for election administration under his leadership.

Primary Issues

Election Security & Integrity

Central campaign message is "easy to vote, but hard to cheat." Highlights layered cybersecurity partnerships with federal agencies and 24-hour endpoint monitoring for all 99 county election systems, alongside mandatory post-election audits and pre-election equipment testing.

Small Business Services Modernization

Frames the Secretary of State's office as Iowa's small business portal. He touts his Fast Track Filing system and new business filings in seven of the past eight years as delivering service "at the speed of business."

Youth Voter Engagement

Emphasizes civic education initiatives including the Iowa Youth Straw Polls, the Iowa Youth Caucus, and the Catt Collegiate Challenge encouraging college students to register to vote. He has framed these initiatives as building long-term civic participation.

Endorsements

Republican Party of Iowa

Donor Information

Total individual contributions: 215
In-state: 206 (95.8%) Out-of-state: 8 (3.7%)
Small-dollar donors ($100 or less): By count: 134 of 215 (62.3%) By dollar volume: $7,799 of $90,829 (8.6%)

1. RSLC Victory Fund — Washington, DC — $10,000

Political action committee affiliated with the Republican State Leadership Committee, which supports Republican candidates for state-level offices nationwide.

1. Gage Kent — Muscatine, IA — $10,000

CEO of Kent Corporation, a Muscatine-based global agribusiness holding company.

3. Daniel and Phyllis Rupprecht — West Des Moines, IA — $5,000

Founder of R&R Realty Group.

3. DFL Revocable Trust / Donald Lamberti — Ankeny, IA — $5,000

Co-founder of Casey's General Stores.

3. Jeffrey Lamberti — Ankeny, IA — $5,000

Real estate attorney and son of Casey's co-founder Donald Lamberti.

Source: Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board (IECDB), as of July 14, 2026. webapp.iowa.gov/iecdb

Ryan Peterman (D)

Democratic nominee · U.S. Navy veteran · Former helicopter pilot

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Bio and Career

Peterman, 34, was born and raised in Bettendorf in the Quad Cities, in what he describes as a family of teachers, veterans, and small business owners. He attended the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis and was commissioned as a Navy officer after graduation, then attended flight school in Pensacola, Florida. He served roughly a decade as a Navy helicopter pilot, leading sailors on overseas deployments.

During his military career, Peterman spent a year on Capitol Hill as a legislative assistant to U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), working on national security and defense policy. He then returned to the Naval Academy as the Honor Education and Mediation Officer, mentoring future officers on honor, accountability, and ethical leadership. After about 14 years in uniform, he left the Navy and returned to Iowa, initially getting involved in civilian life by volunteering with local Democratic campaigns.

Peterman announced his campaign for Iowa Secretary of State in May 2025 and ran unopposed in the June 2026 Democratic primary. He has pledged to visit all 99 Iowa counties during the campaign and to build working relationships with the county auditors who administer elections locally. His campaign centers on what he calls a "nonpartisan approach" to election administration by making voting more accessible while maintaining election security. He has repeatedly said he is "not running to be a partisan warrior." This is his first run for public office.

Primary Issues

Expanding Voter Access

Argues Iowa Republicans have "significantly shortened" the voting window over the past decade and imposed restrictions on mail-in voting. Frames the Secretary of State's job as fighting for the right to vote rather than restricting it.

Election Security Through Professional Administration

Says security and access are complementary rather than competing goals. Peterman pledges strong election cybersecurity while removing barriers he says have discouraged eligible voters, rather than pursuing security through voter roll purges.

Restoring Public Trust in Elections

Cites Pate's 2024 directive challenging 2,000+ voter registrations using outdated DOT data as an example of trust erosion. Draws on his Naval Academy honor code background as the basis for what he calls "quiet, steady" leadership focused on service.

Endorsements

Democrats Serve
VoteVets

Donor Information

Total individual contributions: 2,291
In-state: 1,868 (81.5%) Out-of-state: 400 (17.5%)
Small-dollar donors ($100 or less): By count: 2,008 of 2,291 (87.6%) By dollar volume: $57,385 of $379,694 (15.1%)

1. The Majority Rules PAC — Des Moines, IA — $97,000

Anti-gerrymandering political action committee.

2. Rod Womer, Barbara Womer, and Karplus — Newbury Park, CA — $20,000

Founders of the Woka Foundation.

3. Keith Whipple — Cedar Rapids, IA — $17,500

Source: Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board (IECDB), as of July 14, 2026. webapp.iowa.gov/iecdb

How the Office Would Change

Pate has run the Secretary of State's office as an active administrator of Iowa's election infrastructure and small business filings, with a defining emphasis on election security. Voter ID requirements, cybersecurity partnerships, and post-election audits. He points to record voter turnout, top-three national rankings from MIT for election administration, and modernized business filings as evidence the office is running well.

Peterman has proposed reorienting the office toward what he calls "nonpartisan professionalism". His idea is treating election access and election security as complementary rather than competing goals, restoring what he says are voter opportunities eroded over the past decade, and using his Naval Academy honor code background to rebuild public trust in the office itself.

The choice on this office is less about whether Iowa's elections should be secure, but rather whether the office's recent voter-verification and voting-window changes represent responsible stewardship or unnecessary barriers to eligible voters.