2008Flipped from RepublicanFinal results
2008 election for Iowa Senate District 18
Iowa State Senate · Iowa
Swati A. Dandekar (D) won with 54.3% of the vote, defeating Joe Childers (R) by 8.7 points, a seat Republicans won last time.
Swati A. DandekarDemocrat · winner
54.3%20,667
Joe ChildersRepublican
45.7%17,367
38,034 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 2008
Races before and after
Source: Harvard Dataverse / Carl KlarnerUpdated Sep 30, 2026, 7:29 AM ET