(Radio Iowa) – Just eight percent of registered Iowa voters cast ballots in Tuesday’s Primary Elections. Secretary of State Paul Pate is Iowa’s top election official. “It’s a quiet election and we’ll be analyzing that for some time to figure out: ‘What was that about?’ Is it voter fatigue? Is it because there wasn’t some big statewide primary?” 2012 was the last time there was no statewide race in Iowa’s Primary Elections and about nine percent of eligible voters participated. For this week’s primaries, nearly 184-thousand Iowans cast ballots — out of more than two-point-two MILLION registered voters. “I’m going to be looking at those numbers personally just to see if the base vote is out there for Republicans and Democrats,” Pate says, “because it’ll translate into what happens this November.”

Pate says primary results give the winning candidates insight into what worked and what didn’t. “How did our yard signs go going out? How did our phone calls go getting the vote out? Did we get the number we thought we were going to get in turnout? That is your rehearsal,” Pate says. “Even if you don’t have anybody running against you in a primary, it is a rehearsal.” There were three competitive congressional primaries on Tuesday’s ballot.

Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate speaking to a West Des Moines Valley High School class about registering to vote. (RI file photo)

In the first congressional district, incumbent Republican Mariannette Miller-Meeks won by 12 points. Republican Congressman Randy Feenstra finished 20 percent ahead of his primary challenger in the fourth congressional district. In the third district, Democrat Lanon Baccam won 84 percent of that primary’s vote and will challenge Republican Congressman Zach Nunn in the General Election — which is 153 days away.