Jon Dunwell maintains hold of Iowa House District 38 seat

Jon Dunwell has presumably been re-elected to the Iowa Legislature and will continue to be the representative of House District 38, according to the preliminary results released on Election Night by the Jasper County Auditor’s Office. The Republican incumbent received 9,035 votes, or 55.75 percent.

Which means Democratic challenger Brad Magg received 7,163 votes, or 44.20 percent. More than 16,000 votes were cast in the House District 38 race.

Dunwell has served as Jasper County’s representative in the Iowa Legislature for the past three years. He was first elected into the position via special election in October 2021, following the resignation of former Rep. Wes Breckenridge, who bested Dunwell in the 2020 election. Dunwell has run for the seat four times.

Upon his re-election in 2022, Dunwell was named an assistant majority leader. Outside his legislative duties, Dunwell works as a pastor at Gateway Church Monroe and is director of outreach and engagement at The Family Leader, which is one of the most influential conservative groups in the state.

Magg is owner of Goldie’s Ice Cream Shoppe in Prairie City and Spring City Pharmacy in Colfax. He has also served on the Colfax City Council for the past 15 years. The 38-year-old is a lifelong resident and entrepreneur of Jasper County. At age 14, he founded Magg Family Catering, which still operates today.

When Magg first announced his campaign in March, he said it was the actions of lawmakers like Dunwell that inspired him to run for office. He wholeheartedly disagreed with the direction the Republican majorities were taking public education, health care and economic policies in small communities.

Enthusiasm from the local Democratic Party and for their candidate ensured this would be a close race. Ultimately, it was decided by 10 points; Dunwell told Newton News the morning after his win that says, to some degree, that voters believe the direction the state is heading is a good direction.

“It doesn’t mean they agree with every aspect of it,” he said. “There is an uncomfortableness when you address school issues and budget issues and AEA issues. But they recognize there has to be some fiscal responsibility because when you have that you create opportunity.”

To Dunwell, the ideas of cutting taxes, fiscal responsibility and protecting freedoms are things that resonate with Jasper County voters. He also felt the results told him that people realize there is a teamwork that needs to happen with government entities, which Dunwell said he is involved with behind the scenes.

“I spent a lot of time engaging with people in conversations,” he said. “We’re going to continue that process. I’ve got right now some constituent bills … And I’ll be meeting with our schools, meeting with our city councils and meeting with our supervisors over the next couple months.”

Dunwell calls it a “continuation of busyness.”