Iowa Senate District 15 race has been insane. So far we have seen three candidates drop out of the race.
State Senator Chaz Allen (D-Newton) after running unopposed in the June 5th primary dropped out of the race in July to pursue a new business opportunity.
His Republican challenger, Tim Shay, a retiree from Newton, a couple of days after that news also dropped out of the race.
Republicans nominated State Representative Zach Nunn (R-Bondurant) and Democrats nominated Taylor Van De Krol.
Van De Krol, age 26, of Lynnville is a former chairman of the Jasper County Democratic Party. Van De Krol clerked for State Senator Matt McCoy (D-Des Moines) for the last three legislative sessions. (McCoy won the Democratic nomination for Polk County Supervisor so he will not return to the Iowa Senate.)
Nunn, age 39, served two terms in the Iowa House representing Iowa House District 30. Nunn is an Air Force veteran who was deployed three times to Iraq and Afghanistan where he logged 700 combat hours. He and his wife, Kelly, run a small business in Bondurant.
Van De Krol announced Wednesday that he was dropping out of the race for “personal reasons.”
This is incredibly unusual so Democrats will now have to nominate a third candidate.
Democrats currently hold a 707 voter registration edge over Republicans in a district that President Donald Trump won by 15 points. When Allen was in the race against an unknown Republican challenger that favored Democrats. With the unexpected turns in the race, and with the Republicans having a well-known and well-liked candidate running this race looks very good for them.
Update: Dan Nieland, a small business owner and adjunct professor at Des Moines Area Community College who lives outside Mitchellville, is the third candidate to be nominated by Democrats in the district. Nieland recently lost the Democrat primary in Iowa House District 30.
