Democrats Tuesday flipped seat in the Iowa Senate in a special election held to replace Republican Sen. Chris Cournoyer, who was named as Iowa's lieutenant governor, but Democrats still will be far outnumbered in the chamber.

Unofficial results as of 9:40 p.m. with all counties and precincts reporting, show Zimmer leading with 4,812, or 51.72%, to Whittington's 4,473 votes, or 48.08%.

Republicans still have large legislative majorities in Iowa, but a Democrat’s apparent win in a solidly conservative area buoyed that party at a moment of uncertainty.