1978Flipped from DemocraticFinal resultsIncumbent defeated
1978 election for Iowa House District 56
Iowa House of Representatives · Iowa
James O. Anderson (R) won with 50.9% of the vote, defeating Ernest Gilson (D) by 1.9 points, a seat Democrats won last time.
James O. AndersonRepublican · winner
50.9%3,988
Ernest GilsonDemocrat · incumbent
49.1%3,840
7,828 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 1978
Races before and after
Source: Harvard Dataverse / Carl KlarnerUpdated Sep 30, 2026, 7:29 AM ET