1980Final results
1980 election for Iowa House District 47
Iowa House of Representatives · Iowa
Ruhl Maulsby (R) won with 44.0% of the vote, defeating William J. Messenger (D) by 1.3 points.
Ruhl MaulsbyRepublican · winner · incumbent
44.0%4,649
William J. MessengerDemocrat
42.7%4,512
Ben L. OlsonLibertarian
13.3%1,409
10,570 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 1980
Races before and after
Source: Harvard Dataverse / Carl KlarnerUpdated Sep 30, 2026, 7:29 AM ET