Incumbent Republican Jeff Shipley has won re-election to Iowa’s 87th House District on Tuesday, November 3rd, defeating Democratic challenger Tom O’Donnell by a margin of 326 votes out of 12,266 cast — a rematch of their 2024 contest.
Shipley received 6,284 votes (51%) to O’Donnell’s 5,958 (49%). District 87 covers portions of Jefferson and Henry counties, and all of Van Buren County. Shipley has represented the district since 2019 and will serve a fifth term.
Shipley carried Henry County 2,266 to 1,683 and Van Buren County 1,882 to 929. O’Donnell carried Jefferson County 3,346 to 2,136.
Shipley said he was grateful for voters’ continued support and outlined priorities for his next term.
“I am humbled by voters’ continued trust and faith in me,” Shipley said. “I am eager to keep working to protect school children from the harms of digital devices, empower patients with access to ground-breaking therapies like psilocybin, and continue our scientific research into pesticide exposure among Iowans. Our state and nation face many challenges, but with prayer and humility we must continue to create peace and prosperity for the next generation.”
O’Donnell congratulated Shipley on his victory while pointing to improved performance across all three counties compared to 2024.
“We congratulate Jeff Shipley on winning a fifth term to serve in the Iowa House of Representatives,” O’Donnell said. “We hope that he will listen to Southeast Iowans, who want a legislator who addresses their real needs for higher incomes, strong hospitals and public schools, clean water, and safer care centers.”
O’Donnell noted his campaign knocked on more than 6,500 doors, sent thousands of handwritten postcards, and appeared in nearly every parade in the district. He said the results reflected that work.
“Our efforts yielded outstanding results, even if we fell short by a narrow margin of 326 votes out of 12,266 cast,” O’Donnell said. “We did better in every county in 2026 than we did in 2024, earning 42.5 percent in Henry County compared to 31.6 in 2024; 60.9 percent in Jefferson County versus 52.5 percent; and 33 percent in Van Buren County compared to 26.7 percent in 2024.”
O’Donnell said his campaign raised more overall than Shipley despite receiving significantly less party support, and criticized what he called deceptive attacks from his opponent.
“We hit these marks despite deceptive and distorted attacks from our opponent and his party,” he said. “The Republican Party knew we had a chance to succeed and poured more than $51,000 into Shipley’s campaign this fall. In contrast, we received just $9,000 from the Democratic Party but still raised more money overall than he did. Despite the attacks, we stuck to our pledge to run a positive campaign. We focused on our shared values, especially working together to preserve our rural lifestyle.”
He closed with a message for the incoming term.
“I’ll add that I hope this election, the closest in this House district since 2020, will lead Mr. Shipley to approach his job with humility,” O’Donnell said.
All results are unofficial.
