The 2010 Iowa gubernatorial election was held on Tuesday, November 2, 2010, to elect the governor and lieutenant governor, to serve a four-year term beginning on January 14, 2011. In Iowa, the governor and lieutenant governor are elected on the same ballot. Along with the election in Ohio, this was one of the two gubernatorial elections where the incumbent lost reelection. The two major party candidates were first-term incumbent governor Chet Culver, a Democrat, who ran for re-election with first-term incumbent lieutenant governor Patty Judge, and former four-term governor Terry Branstad, who won a three-way primary for the Republican nomination and ran with State Senator Kim Reynolds. Branstad defeated Culver in the general election, becoming the first challenger to unseat an incumbent Iowa governor since Harold Hughes in 1962.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Results

Republican primary

Candidates

On ballot

As listed by the Iowa Secretary of State's office:

Withdrew

Polling

Results

[[File:Iowa gubernatorial Republican primary, 2010.svg|thumb|Results by county: {{legend|#E27F7F|Branstad}} {{legend|#FFB2B2|40–50%}} {{legend|#E27F7F|50–60%}} {{legend|#D75D5D|60–70%}} {{legend|#D72F30|70–80%}} {{legend|#FF9A50|Plaats}} {{legend|#ffb380|40–50%}} {{legend|#ff9955|50–60%}} {{legend|#ff7f2a|60–70%}} {{legend|#D69850|70–80%}} {{legend|#37c837|Roberts}} {{legend|#2ca02c|70–80%}} ]]

General election

Candidates

Predictions

Polling

Results

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican