Jim Lightfoot

U.S. Representative
Born
September 27, 1938
Current age
87
Home state
Iowa
Party
Republican
On the ballot
1984–1996
6-1
RecordWin–Loss
Total Popular Votes
Lightfoot1.2M
Opponents1.1M
7
Elections run

Between 1984 and 1996, Jim Lightfoot ran in 7 elections across 2 offices (U.S. House and U.S. Senate), winning 6 and losing 1. Lightfoot's biggest single-election total was 571,807 votes, in the 1996 U.S. Senate election in Iowa. Lightfoot's closest win came in the 1984 U.S. House election in Iowa's District 5, decided by 3,197 votes.

Browse every U.S. Senate election in Iowa, every U.S. House race in Iowa's District 3, or every U.S. House race in Iowa's District 5.

How many votes has Jim Lightfoot received?

Jim Lightfoot has received 1,216,996 popular votes across 7 U.S. elections, with a career record of 6–1.

Election history

Jim Lightfoot’s election history
YearOfficeResultVotesOpponent(s)
1996U.S. SenateIowaLost571,80746.71%Tom Harkin
Sue Atkinson

Fred Gratson

Joe Sulentic

Shirley E. Pena
1994U.S. HouseIowaWon111,86257.8%Elaine Baxter (head-to-head)
Derrick P. Grimmer
1992U.S. HouseIowaWon125,93148.95%Elaine Baxter (head-to-head)
Larry Chroman
1990U.S. HouseIowaWon99,97868.01%Rod Powell
1988U.S. HouseIowaWon117,76163.87%Gene Freund
1986U.S. HouseIowaWon85,02559.21%Scott Hughes
1984U.S. HouseIowaWon104,63250.78%Jerry Fitzgerald
Identity & sources. Identity verified against the Congressional Bioguide (L000305) and Wikidata (Q1271006). Election results come from official certified totals and the MIT Election Data and Science Lab; see methodology.
Cite this profile. PolitiFinder, “Jim Lightfoot: election history & vote totals.” https://politifinder.com/p/jim-lightfoot. Accessed [date].

Compiled by PolitiFinder. Election results from official certified sources and the MIT Election Lab. See Data & sources and methodology. Data last verified July 28, 2026.