Lindsay James Flips Iowa's 2nd District, Beating Joe Mitchell

DUBUQUE, Iowa (Orbit Post) Democrat Lindsay James won Iowa's 2nd Congressional District on Tuesday, defeating Republican Joe Mitchell and flipping an open seat to the Democrats. Decision Desk HQ marked the district decided for James at 11:33 p.m. EST on November 3. Iowa Starting Line reported the same projection at 10:33 p.m. CT, with James ahead 171,484 votes to 157,722 for Mitchell, with all counties reporting, according to the Iowa Secretary of State.

ABC and Decision Desk HQ called the race for James at 11:09 p.m. on November 3, according to the Des Moines Register. CBS News projected James the winner at 12:22 a.m. ET on November 4. With 98 percent of votes counted, James had 50 percent to 46 percent for Mitchell, according to unofficial results from the Iowa Secretary of State's office cited by the Register.

The final count

In the Associated Press results feed snapshot read on election night, the district was listed as called for James, with 171,512 votes to 157,722 for Mitchell. That snapshot showed 100 percent of precincts reporting and an estimated 99 percent of the vote counted. The AP total for James was 28 votes higher than the Secretary of State total reported by Iowa Starting Line, a small gap between two snapshots taken as the last counts came in. The winner was the same in every snapshot.

An open seat

The 2nd District seat was open this year. It was previously held by Republican U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson, who ran for the U.S. Senate instead of seeking another House term. With no incumbent on the ballot, both parties treated the district as a real contest. Nonpartisan forecasters, including the Cook Political Report, rated the race a toss-up. James's win flips the seat to the Democrats.

The district and the candidates

The district covers 22 counties in northeast Iowa. It includes Cedar Rapids, Waterloo, Dubuque and Mason City.

James is a state lawmaker and a Presbyterian chaplain and minister from Dubuque. Mitchell is a former state representative. He held the endorsement of President Donald Trump. On Tuesday night the district chose the lawmaker from Dubuque, and northeast Iowa will send a Democrat to the House when the new term begins.