1984Flipped from DemocraticFinal results
1984 election for Iowa's 5th District
U.S. House · Iowa
James Lightfoot (R) won with 50.8% of the vote, defeating Jerry Fitzgerald (D) by 1.6 points, flipping a seat Democrats held.
James LightfootRepublican · winner
50.8%104,632
Jerry FitzgeraldDemocrat
49.2%101,435
206,067 votes
Source: MIT Election Data and Science LabUpdated Sep 30, 2026, 7:25 AM ET
The seat over time
D − R margin in this seat's races around 1984
Races before and after
Source: Past results: 99chambers results archive (MEDSL, Klarner, state election offices)
Money in this race
Each line compares the two campaigns on one scale.
Jerry FitzgeraldJames Lightfoot
$450.4K
Raised by the campaign
$420.1K
$449.1K
Spent by the campaign
$406.5K
$1.4K
Cash on hand
$13.5K
Campaign money: FEC, through Dec 31, 1984.
Source: FEC campaign filingsUpdated Dec 31, 1984