1976Final results
1976 election for Iowa Senate District 12
Iowa State Senate · Iowa
Merlin D. Hulse (R) won with 54.3% of the vote, defeating Paul Ponder (D) by 8.6 points.
Merlin D. HulseRepublican · winner
54.3%12,503
Paul PonderDemocrat
45.7%10,528
23,031 votes
Source: Harvard Dataverse / Carl KlarnerUpdated Sep 30, 2026, 7:29 AM ET
The seat over time
D − R margin in this seat's races around 1976
Races before and after
Source: Harvard Dataverse / Carl KlarnerUpdated Sep 30, 2026, 7:29 AM ET