Senate District 49

2026 general election · 2-way race · 2022: Cindy Winckler (D) unopposed

Voter registration (Oct 2026): D+13.4 of 32,020 active voters · D +3.0 since Nov 2024

Democratic 38% · No party 36% · Republican 25% · Other 1%

Cindy Winckler holds 8.2× the campaign cash of Cynthia Mensendick: $23,659.61 to $2,881.76.

Cindy Winckler

Democrat

Cash on hand (money in the bank) · October 14, 2026

$23,659.61

raised $18,037.60 in the latest report (2026) · $31,907.15 in cash this election (since 2025)

spent $7,338.15 in the same report

plus $69.55 in donated goods and services this election (since 2025): staff, mail, polling and the like, which is support rather than money in the bank

Full committee money →

Incumbent · voting record →

Cynthia Mensendick

Republican

Cash on hand (money in the bank) · October 14, 2026

$2,881.76

raised $4,657.00 in the latest report (2026)

spent $1,781.24 in the same report

Full committee money →

Follow the money

Where the money comes from and where it goes: who gives to each campaign, where those donors live, its biggest givers and who it paid, for this election (since 2025). Cash the state lists donor-by-donor and payee-by-payee.

Cindy Winckler · Democrat

Who gives · this election (since 2025)

Individuals 30% ($9,402.50)PACs & committees 70% ($22,400.00)

Shares are of the $31,802.50 that donors gave this election (since 2025). Of the $22,400.00 from PACs and committees, $18,650.00 is from PACs and $3,750.00 from committees whose type isn't in the filings we hold (they file no Iowa disclosure report of their own, so the state's records we have don't say whether they are a PAC, a party or a candidate).

$3,275.00 of the individuals' money is from recent rows read from the Ethics Board's public search, which does not say whether a giver is a person or an organization. We count a giver there as an individual unless the state's older records list the same name as an organization or the name is plainly one (a PAC, party, committee, business, trust or union).

Where they live · this election (since 2025)

In the district 9% ($2,690.00)ZIP crosses the district line 5% ($1,630.00)Elsewhere in Iowa 71% ($22,467.50)Iowa, ZIP not mapped 6% ($2,040.00)Outside Iowa 8% ($2,600.00)

Between 9% and 14% of the $31,427.50 whose donor listed an address came from inside the district (Senate District 49) this election (since 2025). It's a range because donor addresses are placed by ZIP code, and some ZIP codes cross the district line.

92% came from somewhere in Iowa and 8% from outside the state. $2,040.00 of the Iowa money has a ZIP code with no area on the map (a post office box, for example), so it can't be placed in or out of the district.

$31,907.15 in cash this election (since 2025), listed donor-by-donor in the state's itemized records (the rows we hold reach 2026-10-20: the publisher's extract, dated 2026-07-14, plus the Ethics Board's public search, read 2026-10-19). · full record →

Not in the bars: $104.65 in interest earned on the campaign's own bank accounts (inside the cash total, but income, not a gift) and $69.55 in donated goods and services this election (since 2025). The second bar also leaves out $375.00 from donors with no usable address on the filing.

Biggest givers to Winckler · this election (since 2025) Itemized cash: 2025-01-01 to 2026-10-14, the end of its newest report in our copy (filed 2026-10-15); its next report is not in our filings list yet. Bars share one scale across this race's givers.
Giver	Cash given
Associated General Contractors of Iowa PAC (its page counts since 2023) Des Moines, IA · 2 gifts	$5,000.00
Heavy Highway Political Action Committee (its page counts since 2023) Des Moines, IA · 2 gifts	$2,500.00
International Union of Operating Engineers Local 150 Local A Countryside, IL · 2 gifts	$2,000.00
Operating Engineers Local 234 Political Fund (its page counts since 2023) Des Moines, IA · 1 gift	$2,000.00
MidAmerican Energy Company PAC (its page counts since 2023) Des Moines, IA · 2 gifts	$1,500.00

Of 107 named givers. Every gift on file, all years →

Who Winckler paid · this election (since 2025) Itemized payments: 2025-01-01 to 2026-10-14, the end of its newest report in our copy (filed 2026-10-15); its next report is not in our filings list yet. Last payment 2026-10-11. Payees as typed; one vendor can appear twice. Bars share one scale across this race's payees.
Paid to	Paid
Lamar Companies 1 payment	$4,875.00
Davenport Printing Company 3 payments	$1,821.66
Iowa Democratic Party 2 payments	$1,300.00
cindy L. Winckler 1 payment	$614.98
Scott County Democratic Central Committee 1 payment	$250.00

All 7 payees this election (since 2025)

Every payee of Winckler's committee, this election (since 2025)
Lamar Companies 1 payment	$4,875.00
Davenport Printing Company 3 payments	$1,821.66
Iowa Democratic Party 2 payments	$1,300.00
cindy L. Winckler 1 payment	$614.98
Scott County Democratic Central Committee 1 payment	$250.00
ActBlue 18 payments	$188.88
State of Iowa 1 payment	$50.00

$9,100.52 in 27 payments to 7 different recipients this election (since 2025), as this committee itemized them. Its filings report $9,100.52 spent since 2025 (newest report in our copy filed 2026-10-15). The two are the same to the cent.

Cynthia Mensendick · Republican

Who gives · this election (since 2025)

Individuals 36% ($1,657.00)PACs & committees 64% ($3,000.00)

Shares are of the $4,657.00 that donors gave this election (since 2025). Of the $3,000.00 from PACs and committees, $3,000.00 is from party committees.

$1,567.00 of the individuals' money is from recent rows read from the Ethics Board's public search, which does not say whether a giver is a person or an organization. We count a giver there as an individual unless the state's older records list the same name as an organization or the name is plainly one (a PAC, party, committee, business, trust or union).

Where they live · this election (since 2025)

In the district 10% ($440.00)ZIP crosses the district line 87% ($3,982.00)Elsewhere in Iowa 2% ($100.00)Outside Iowa 1% ($45.00)

Between 10% and 97% of the $4,567.00 whose donor listed an address came from inside the district (Senate District 49) this election (since 2025). It's a range because donor addresses are placed by ZIP code, and some ZIP codes cross the district line.

99% came from somewhere in Iowa and 1% from outside the state.

$4,657.00 in cash this election (since 2025), listed donor-by-donor in the state's itemized records (the rows we hold reach 2026-10-20: the publisher's extract, dated 2026-07-14, plus the Ethics Board's public search, read 2026-10-19). · full record →

Not in the bars: $1.00 in loans the campaign received this election (since 2025), money it owes back and often the candidate's own. The second bar also leaves out $90.00 from donors with no usable address on the filing.

Biggest givers to Mensendick · this election (since 2025) Itemized cash: 2025-01-01 to 2026-10-14, the end of its newest report in our copy (filed 2026-10-19); its next report is not in our filings list yet. Last gift 2026-10-12. Bars share one scale across this race's givers.
Giver	Cash given
Scott County Republican Central Committee Davenport, IA · 1 gift	$3,000.00
Charlie & Shirley Helmick Davenport, IA · 1 gift	$440.00
Cynthia J. Mensendick Blue Grass, IA · 1 gift	$412.00
Raymond Harre Davenport, IA · 1 gift	$200.00
Chester & Lucinda Stanfield Blue Grass, IA · 1 gift	$100.00

Of 12 named givers. 3 more givers also gave $100.00; equal amounts are listed by name. Every gift on file, all years →

Who Mensendick paid · this election (since 2025) Itemized payments: 2025-01-01 to 2026-10-14, the end of its newest report in our copy (filed 2026-10-19); its next report is not in our filings list yet. Last payment 2026-09-29. Payees as typed; one vendor can appear twice. Bars share one scale across this race's payees.
Paid to	Paid
Scott County Republican Central Committee 1 payment	$800.00
Goliath Slayers Communications 1 payment	$769.00
Cafe de Marie 1 payment	$196.20
Cynthia J. Mensendick - Mensendick for Iowa (paid under its own committee code) 1 payment	$16.04

$1,781.24 in 4 payments to 4 different recipients this election (since 2025), as this committee itemized them. Its filings report $1,781.24 spent since 2025 (newest report in our copy filed 2026-10-19). The two are the same to the cent.

Method: itemized cash contributions (Schedule A, transaction type CON) since 2025-01-01, refunds netted, the committee's own account interest excluded. Each donor is placed by the state and 5-digit ZIP code on the filing. A ZIP code counts as in the district when at least 98% of its Iowa land area (Census ZCTA) falls inside it, as crossing the line when between 2% and 98% does, and as elsewhere in Iowa otherwise. Iowa ZIP codes with no Census area (post office boxes) are shown on their own. In-kind support and loans are never in either bar.

Biggest givers: the same cash rows, added up by the giver's name as filed (one giver filed under two spellings appears twice), refunds netted, a committee's receipts under its own code and its account interest left out; in-kind support and loans are not in the list. A linked giver is a state-registered committee; its page counts what it reported paying, since 2023, so its figure can differ from the one here. Givers without a link have no page on this site: people, and organizations that are not among the state-registered committees it tracks. Who each campaign paid: itemized payments since 2025-01-01, refunds netted, loan repayments left out, payees as each treasurer typed them, joined only by case, punctuation and legal form (Inc., LLC), so one vendor typed two ways can appear twice. Basis: itemized records, which list each gift and payment, not the totals reported on filings. Source: Iowa Ethics & Campaign Disclosure Board contributions and expenditures (the rows we hold reach 2026-10-20: the publisher's extract, dated 2026-07-14, plus the Ethics Board's public search, read 2026-10-19; payments in our copy downloaded 2026-10-24).

The seat's record

Current officeholder: Cindy Winckler (Democrat) · full voting record →

Voted NO on SF 607 : Unemployment insurance employer tax cut

Voted YES on HF 639 : Hazardous liquid pipeline / eminent domain limits

Voted NO on SF 167 : FY2026 school funding, 2% SSA

Voted NO on SF 472 : Public-sector union recertification petitions

From the key-votes set on wages, labor, utilities and eminent domain, and school funding: the same set for every legislator, both parties. Each bill is described by what it does; its official title is on the bill page.

Explore win scenarios for this race → what turnout and crossover it would take, on the real electorate

Fundraising rate

New money raised per day of each candidate's latest report: the pace of fundraising, comparable even when reports cover spans of different length. The small bars trace how that pace moved across recent reports.

Cindy Winckler $196/day

$18,037.60 over 92 days · latest report

Cynthia Mensendick $51/day

$4,657.00 over 92 days · latest report

Rate = money raised ÷ days the report covers. ("Money raised" is the report's cash-contribution line, Schedule A.) Faded bars are earlier reports' rates; the solid bar is the latest. State committees only. A period's total can arrive as one large check or many small gifts, and the rate can't tell them apart; a committee's donation page breaks its money down by gift size.

More of your 2026 ballot

House District 97 → · House District 98 → · Governor → · every 2026 race →

General election: Tuesday, November 3, 2026. Check your registration and polling place with the Iowa Secretary of State. Legislative districts are rarely publicly polled; if a qualifying public poll appears for this race it will be shown here.

Candidates: Iowa Secretary of State 2026 general-election list. Cash figures: each candidate's latest state disclosure filing; a newly announced challenger may not have filed yet. State money only; any federal committee is separate.