From the Quad City Times:
Lykam wins Senate special election
Iowa Rep. Jim Lykam won a convincing victory Tuesday in the special election to fill the vacant state Senate seat in District 45.
The longtime Davenport Democrat defeated Republican Mike Gonzales and Libertarian Severin Gilbert in the contest to succeed Joe Seng, who died in September.
With all 20 precincts counted, as well as absentees, the unofficial tally from the Scott County Auditor’s Office showed Lykam getting 3,788 votes, or 73.2 percent, while Gonzales got 1,310, or 25.3 percent. Gilbert received 76 votes, or 1.5 percent.
The district covers much of west Davenport, along with the town of Buffalo.
Lykam’s win was not unexpected. He’s represented half the district in the Iowa House since 2003, and the Senate district has twice the number of Democrats as Republicans.
Lykam campaigned as a pragmatic Democrat working for the middle class who was seeking to carry on Seng’s legacy. Gonzales, a LeClaire police officer who lives in west Davenport, said he wanted to shrink government, help small business but also maintain education funding. Gilbert expressed an interest in taking part in fixing Iowa’s medicinal marijuana laws.
Lykam and his party vastly outspent their rivals. Lykam estimated their expenditures would hit about $100,000. A chunk of that went toward soliciting absentee ballots.
At Scott County Democratic headquarters Tuesday night, Lykam was appreciative of the victory.
“It was a team effort. We worked hard at it. I’m very happy the voters will allow me the privilege of representing them in Des Moines,” he said. [Read the full article at QCTimes.com]