LEE COUNTY - With the 2022 general election less than 48 hours away, races are heating up locally and on the state level.
Officials with the Lee County Republican and Lee County Democratic parties are seeing tight races and heavy early voting.
According to Lee County GOP chairman James Creen, Republicans requested 1,000 early ballots with just 34 still outstanding.
"I was suprised we got up to a thousand, especially in a midterm election," Creen said. "This has been really good for us in absentee voting. When we get people going to the polls this will really help."
Creen's numbers had Democrats with 1920 early voting ballot requests with 99 still outstanding. There were 434 non-affiliated ballot requests with 28 still unreturned.
Creen said county GOP officials are cautiously optimistic about all the races.
The most compelling of the year maybe the race for U.S. Senate between 42-year Senator Chuck Grassley and his challenger Mike Franken, a retired Navy admiral.
An Oct. 15 IowaPoll had that race within the margin of error at 3 points separating the two. CNN said that race could be the sleeper race of the election.
The Des Moines Register/Mediacom IowaPoll suggests this is the toughest fight Grassley has faced in his 40 years in the Senate.
"What I'm hearing is that Grassley and Franken are awfully close, but I just don't know today how close that really is. It was just one poll," Creen said.
Lee County Democrat Chair Mary Jo Riesberg said an event on Oct. 29 in Montrose was widely attended for Franken, with people she hadn't seen at events before.
"I think there could be some surprises," Riesberg said.
"The Franken/Grassley race is statistically a tie being within the margin of error. At our event for Mike Franken in Montrose in October, I saw people that I've never seen before at any of our events and I think that says the race is very close."
Riesberg said the good early voting numbers are promising for Democrats, but agreed that Democrats typically vote early more often.
She was spending Saturday canvassing neighborhoods in South Lee County with candidates.
"Today we're just going to people who are supporters and reminding them they can vote today. I’ve come across people who didn’t realize that. We're also making sure they know where their polling lcoations are on Tuesday.
She said one of the more interesting storylines in canvassing is the reception for House District 100 candidate Rebecca Bowker and for Iowa's new 1st Congressional District candidate Christina Bohannan.
"Before today we canvassed a lot for Rebecca and Christine Bohannan and people are finding their life stories compelling," Riesberg said.
"It's the embodiment of the American dream. Started with difficult backgrounds and they built successful lives."
That 1st Congressional district between Republican incumbent Mariannette Miller-Meeks and Bohannan may also be a close race with the latest polling giving Miller-Meeks a slight edge.
Miller-Meeks ended up beating Rita Hart by just six votes tin 2020 in one of the closest races in the nation's history.
Bohannan currently represents the 85th District in the Iowa House of Representatives. She's also a law professor at the University of Iowa.
Miller-Meeks is a 24-year veteran of the U.S. Army where she served as nurse and a doctor and also worked in the private medical sector.
The two local races have drawn a lot of attention with Bowker challenging incumbent Martin Graber for the new 100th District State Rep. seat.
Bowker is a state employee at the Iowa State Penitentiary and a member of the Fort Madison City Council. Graber is a career National Guard veteran and financial advisor serving his first team in the seat.
Creen said that race is the one he's most concerned about.
"Bowker and Graber is the one that I'm most concerned about, but I'm feeling very optimistic," Creen said.
"Martin has been out pounding the pavement and knocking on doors and handing out literature. What we're hearing overall is it's been positive toward him."
Creen said he hasn't heard much about the Lee County Supervisor race between Republican Tom Schulz and Democrat Donna Amandus.
Both are current Fort Madison City Council members. Schulz owns a heating and air conditioning business in southeast Iowa and Amandus owns a pet grooming business and has been a successful fundraiser for several organizations in Fort Madison.
"I haven't heard much about that race, but were optimistic there as well. It could be another toss-up."
There's no incumbent in that race as both are trying to fill the seat being vacated by current Supervisor Rick Larkin.
"The supervisor’s race seems to be an odd one. That’s one where you have two very definite personalities," Riesberg said.
The other race is the Lee County Treasurer's race between incumbent Chris Spann and challenger Becky Gaylord.
Supervisor Chuck Holmes is running unopposed to hold onto his seat after being appointed to replace Rich Harlow who resigned mid-term.
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