Mark Costello has been elected to replace Joni Ernst in the Iowa State Senate.
Costello, 53, will be the next senator from District 12 after a special election Tuesday in southwest Iowa. Costello, an Imogene Republican, defeated Steve Adams, a Democrat, and Don Brantz, a Libertarian, while receiving 3,068 votes or 74 percent of the votes cast at the polls Tuesday. Adams finished with 22 percent, while Brantz tallied three percent of the vote.