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Nate Boulton
Nate Boulton (Democratic Party) was a member of the Iowa State Senate, representing District 20. He assumed office on January 3, 2023. He left office on January 2, 2025.
Boulton (Democratic Party) ran for re-election to the Iowa State Senate to represent District 20. He lost in the general election on November 5, 2024.
Committee assignments
Note: This membership information was last updated in September 2023. Ballotpedia completes biannual updates of committee membership. If you would like to send us an update, email us at: editor@ballotpedia.org.
2023-2024
Boulton was assigned to the following committees:
- Senate Agriculture Committee
- Senate Judiciary Committee, Ranking Member
- Senate State Government Committee
- Senate Workforce Committee
- International Relations Committee
- Legislative Council
2021-2022
Boulton was assigned to the following committees:
- Senate State Government Committee
- Senate Judiciary Committee
- Labor and Business Relations Committee (decommissioned), Ranking member
- Natural Resources & Environment Committee
2019-2020
Boulton was assigned to the following committees:
2017 legislative session
At the beginning of the 2017 legislative session, this legislator served on the following committees:
| Iowa committee assignments, 2017 |
|---|
| • Appropriations |
| • Commerce |
| • Judiciary |
| • Labor and Business Relations |
Sponsored legislation
The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according to BillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.
Elections
2024
See also: Iowa State Senate elections, 2024
General election
General election for Iowa State Senate District 20
Mike Pike defeated incumbent Nate Boulton in the general election for Iowa State Senate District 20 on November 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Mike Pike (R) | 50.0 | 15,644 | |
| Nate Boulton (D) | 49.8 | 15,600 | ||
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.2 | 66 | ||
| Total votes: 31,310 | ||||
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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Iowa State Senate District 20
Incumbent Nate Boulton advanced from the Democratic primary for Iowa State Senate District 20 on June 4, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Nate Boulton | 99.7 | 1,348 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.3 | 4 | ||
| Total votes: 1,352 | ||||
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Republican primary election
Republican primary for Iowa State Senate District 20
Mike Pike advanced from the Republican primary for Iowa State Senate District 20 on June 4, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Mike Pike | 98.1 | 673 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 1.9 | 13 | ||
| Total votes: 686 | ||||
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Campaign finance
Endorsements
Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Boulton in this election.
2020
See also: Iowa State Senate elections, 2020
General election
General election for Iowa State Senate District 16
Incumbent Nate Boulton defeated Toya S. Johnson in the general election for Iowa State Senate District 16 on November 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Nate Boulton (D) | 75.7 | 16,868 | |
| Toya S. Johnson (L) | 22.9 | 5,097 | ||
| Other/Write-in votes | 1.4 | 320 | ||
| Total votes: 22,285 | ||||
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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Iowa State Senate District 16
Incumbent Nate Boulton advanced from the Democratic primary for Iowa State Senate District 16 on June 2, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Nate Boulton | 98.7 | 5,223 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 1.3 | 71 | ||
| Total votes: 5,294 | ||||
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2018
General election
General election for Governor of Iowa
Incumbent Kim Reynolds defeated Fred Hubbell, Jake Porter, and Gary Siegwarth in the general election for Governor of Iowa on November 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Kim Reynolds (R) | 50.3 | 667,275 | |
| Fred Hubbell (D) | 47.5 | 630,986 | ||
| Jake Porter (L) | 1.6 | 21,426 | ||
| Gary Siegwarth (Clear Water Party of Iowa Party) | 0.6 | 7,463 | ||
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.0 | 488 | ||
| Total votes: 1,327,638 (100.00% precincts reporting) | ||||
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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Governor of Iowa
The following candidates ran in the Democratic primary for Governor of Iowa on June 5, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Fred Hubbell | 55.5 | 99,245 | |
| Cathy Glasson | 20.6 | 36,815 | ||
| John Norris | 11.5 | 20,498 | ||
| Andy McGuire | 5.3 | 9,404 | ||
| Nate Boulton | 5.1 | 9,082 | ||
| Ross Wilburn | 2.2 | 3,880 | ||
| Total votes: 178,924 | ||||
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Republican primary election
Republican primary for Governor of Iowa
Incumbent Kim Reynolds advanced from the Republican primary for Governor of Iowa on June 5, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Kim Reynolds | 100.0 | 94,118 | |
| Total votes: 94,118 | ||||
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Ron Corbett (R)
- Steven Ray (R)
Libertarian primary election
Libertarian primary for Governor of Iowa
Jake Porter defeated Marco Battaglia in the Libertarian primary for Governor of Iowa on June 5, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Jake Porter | 58.4 | 991 | |
| Marco Battaglia | 41.6 | 705 | ||
| Total votes: 1,696 | ||||
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Endorsements
Note: Prior to the signature filing deadline, endorsements will be added as Ballotpedia writers come across them. If you see that an endorsement is missing, please email us and we will add that endorsement. As the election draws closer, more information will be added to this page.
- Fred Hubbell
- Sioux City Mayor Bob Scott
- Woodbury County Auditor Pat Gill
- State Rep. Chris Hall[2]
- State Rep. Todd Prichard[3]
Campaign finance
Following are campaign finance figures obtained from the Iowa Ethics & Campaign Disclosure Board's record of gubernatorial candidates' January 19, 2018, campaign finance filings, which contain information on all contributions to and expenditures by the campaigns as of December 31, 2017. Figures were not available for the Wells campaign.[4]
Polls
| Iowa Governor, Democratic primary 2018 | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Poll | Nate Boulton | Cathy Glasson | Fred Hubbell | Andy McGuire | John Norris | Ross Wilburn | None/Other | Undecided | Margin of error | Sample size | |||||||||
| Des Moines Register/Mediacom (May 13-15, 2015) | 20% | 13% | 31% | 5% | 5% | 3% | 10% | 14% | +/-4.4 | 501 | |||||||||
| Note: The polls above may not reflect all polls that have been conducted in this race. Those displayed are a random sampling chosen by Ballotpedia staff. If you would like to nominate another poll for inclusion in the table, send an email to editor@ballotpedia.org. | |||||||||||||||||||
| Iowa Governor, Democratic primary 2018 | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Poll | Nate Boulton | Cathy Glasson | Fred Hubbell | Andy McGuire | John Norris | Ross Wilburn | Undecided/Other | Margin of error | Sample size | ||||||||||
| KBUR/Remington Research Group (November 5-6, 2018) | 20% | 7% | 46% | 3% | 5% | 1% | 18% | +/-2.0 | 2,315 | ||||||||||
| Note: The polls above may not reflect all polls that have been conducted in this race. Those displayed are a random sampling chosen by Ballotpedia staff. If you would like to nominate another poll for inclusion in the table, send an email to editor@ballotpedia.org. | |||||||||||||||||||
| Iowa Governor, Democratic primary 2018 | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Poll | Nate Boulton | Cathy Glasson | Fred Hubbell | Andy McGuire | Jon Neiderbach | John Norris | Ross Wilburn | Undecided/Other | Margin of error | Sample size | |||||||||
| 20/20 Insight, LLC (November 8-10, 2017) | 13% | 6% | 22% | 3% | 2% | 5% | 1% | 47% | +/-3.6 | 762 | |||||||||
| Note: The polls above may not reflect all polls that have been conducted in this race. Those displayed are a random sampling chosen by Ballotpedia staff. If you would like to nominate another poll for inclusion in the table, send an email to editor@ballotpedia.org. | |||||||||||||||||||
2016
- See also: Iowa State Senate elections, 2016
Elections for the Iowa State Senate were held in 2016. The primary election took place on June 7, 2016, and the general election was held on November 8, 2016. The candidate filing deadline was March 18, 2016. Incumbent Dick Dearden (D) did not seek re-election.
Nate Boulton defeated Mike Pryor and Christopher Whiteing in the Iowa State Senate District 16 general election.[5][6]
| Iowa State Senate, District 16 General Election, 2016 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic |  Nate Boulton |
59.99% | 14,046 | |
| Republican | Mike Pryor | 34.65% | 8,114 | |
| Libertarian | Christopher Whiteing | 5.36% | 1,254 | |
| Total Votes | 23,414 | |||
| Source: Iowa Secretary of State | ||||
Nate Boulton defeated Pam Conner in the Iowa State Senate District 16 Democratic primary.[7][8]
| Iowa State Senate, District 16 Democratic Primary, 2016 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic | Nate Boulton |
52.88% | 1,614 | |
| Democratic | Pam Conner | 47.12% | 1,438 | |
| Total Votes | 3,052 | |||
Campaign themes
2024
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Nate Boulton did not complete Ballotpedia's 2024 Candidate Connection survey.
2020
Nate Boulton did not complete Ballotpedia's 2020 Candidate Connection survey.
2016
Boulton's website highlighted the following campaign themes:[9]
Workers' Rights
- Excerpt: "I’m running to expand workers’ rights and democracy in the workplace and help level the playing field for Iowa workers and their families."
Education
- Excerpt: "Excellence, not mediocrity, should be Iowa’s goal in education."
Economy
- Excerpt: "We deserve to share in the commercial and tourism advancements we have seen across central Iowa and in metropolitan Des Moines."
Natural Resources
- Excerpt: "When it comes to our natural resources and recreational opportunities, we have to treasure the natural assets Iowa has to offer."
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
Scorecards
A scorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.
Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.
Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states. To contribute to the list of Iowa scorecards, email suggestions to editor@ballotpedia.org.
2024
In 2024, the Iowa State Legislature was in session from January 8 to April 20.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to economic issues.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to labor issues.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to business issues.
2023
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2023, click [show]. |
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In 2023, the Iowa State Legislature was in session from January 9 to May 4.
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2022
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2022, click [show]. |
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In 2022, the Iowa State Legislature was in session from January 10 to May 24.
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2021
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2021, click [show]. |
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In 2021, the Iowa State Legislature was in session from January 11 to May 19.
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2020
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2020, click [show]. |
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In 2020, the Iowa State Legislature was in session from January 13 to June 14. The session was suspended from March 16 through June 3.
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2019
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2019, click [show]. |
|---|
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In 2019, the Iowa State Legislature was in session from January 14 through April 27.
|
2018
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2018, click [show]. |
|---|
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In 2018, the Iowa State Legislature was in session from January 8 through May 5.
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2017
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2017, click [show]. |
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In 2017, the Iowa State Legislature was in session from January 9 through April 22.
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Noteworthy events
Ethics complaint over alleged sexual misconduct dismissed (2018)
On December 20, 2018, the Senate Ethics Committee voted unanimously to dismiss a complaint against Boulton related to sexual misconduct allegations. The committee ruled that they did not have jurisdiction in the matter because the alleged misconduct took place prior to Boulton's election. Jerry Behn (R), the committee chair, said that the committee did not attempt to determine whether the allegation was valid.[10]
The Des Moines Register reported that three women accused Boulton of inappropriate touching on May 24, 2018. Boulton said in a statement, "It is devastating to me that anything that I said or did crossed that line because I know me, and I didn’t do that in any sort of intentional way, and if I misread a situation, I apologize for it. But it doesn’t matter. I’m not trying to make excuses, I’m not trying to change anyone’s account. All I’m here to say is I’m sorry, I apologize and I understand." His wife said she supported her husband "100 percent without a doubt."[11]
In response, Senate Democratic Leader Janet Petersen said that sexual harassment was unacceptable and indicated she would support an investigation into the allegations against Boulton. On December 7, Petersen announced that she would not appoint Boulton to any committees for the 2019 legislative session pending the Ethics Committee investigation.[12]
See also
2024 Elections
External links
|
Candidate Iowa State Senate District 20 |
Personal |
Footnotes
- ↑ Globe Gazette, "Steckman endorses Boulton for governor," December 28, 2017
- ↑ Sioux City Journal, "Exclusive: Hall endorses Hubbell for Iowa governor," November 20, 2017
- ↑ Quad-City Times, "Prichard endorses Hubbell for Iowa governor," November 21, 2017
- ↑ Iowa Ethics & Campaign Disclosure Board," accessed January 22, 2018
- ↑ Iowa Secretary of State, "General Candidate List, 2016," accessed August 24, 2016
- ↑ Iowa Secretary of State, "2016 General Election Canvass Summary," accessed December 16, 2016
- ↑ Iowa Secretary of State, "Candidate Listing by Office," March 21, 2016
- ↑ Iowa Secretary of State, "2016 Primary Election Canvass Summary," accessed August 22, 2016
- ↑ boultonforsenate.com, "Issues," accessed May 3, 2016
- ↑ Des Moines Register, "Lawmakers dismiss ethics complaint against Sen. Nate Boulton, who is accused of sexual misconduct," December 20, 2018
- ↑ The Courier, "UPDATE: Nate Boulton suspends campaign for governor," May 24, 2018
- ↑ Des Moines Register, "Democratic leader denies Iowa Sen. Nate Boulton any committee assignments amid investigation," December 7, 2018
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by - |
Iowa State Senate District 20 2023-2025 |
Succeeded by Mike Pike (R) |
| Preceded by - |
Iowa State Senate District 16 2017-2023 |
Succeeded by - |
