If Democrats needed one more sign of just how energized their voters are for the 2018 election, they got it on Friday evening at the end of candidate filings for Iowa state offices. Democratic candidates have stepped up to compete in 94% of all state legislative races, a major coup for the party who sees a potential blue wave year coming in November. They also have candidates in every statewide race, while Republicans left Democratic Attorney General Tom Miller and State Treasurer Mike Fitzgerald without opponents.

It also improves significantly on past years’ performances, where many Republican incumbents got left uncontested – mostly in deep red seats, but also in some borderline competitive ones.

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On the Republican side, things do not look as good. They filled only 20 of 25 senate districts and 75 of 100 house districts. Overall, that’s 76% coverage compared to Democrats’ 94%.

Republicans have left over half of incumbent House Democrats without an opponent, giving those representatives free time to raise money and/or go knock doors in swing districts. And Republicans also have 13 open seats due to retirements, with 20% of their members deciding to call it a day this year (12 are retiring – there’s 13 technically open seats since Representative Chris Hagenow is moving west to an open seat in Dallas County).

https://iowastartingline.com/2018/03/17/iowa-democrats-fill-94-of-state-legislative-races/