DUBUQUE, Iowa — With Election Day set for Tuesday, November 3, 2026, both parties spent the final weekend urging Iowans who had not yet voted to make a plan, and Dubuque was one of the places where that push played out in person.

On Saturday morning, October 31, 2026, national AFL-CIO President Liz Schuler met in Dubuque with union members who had volunteered to knock on doors and talk with prospective voters. On Sunday afternoon, November 1, 2026, before President Donald Trump spoke at the Five Flags Event Center in Dubuque, Iowa Republican Party Chairman Jeff Kaufmann asked the rally crowd to promise to call or give rides to at least 10 people each. On Sunday night, November 1, 2026, Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear, who leads the Democratic Governors Association, spoke to supporters of Democratic gubernatorial candidate Rob Sand’s campaign in Council Bluffs.

Sand, speaking to supporters, cautioned against taking favorable polls for granted, noting that polls have been wrong before and arguing that the alternative would be four more years of one-party control in Iowa. Republican gubernatorial candidate Zach Lahn, meanwhile, suggested that Trump’s appearance in Dubuque was itself a signal about the importance of the Iowa races.

By Friday morning, October 30, 2026, state officials reported that more than 440,000 Iowans had already voted early. That early vote is the backdrop for the final day of in-person absentee voting on Monday, November 2, 2026, at the Dubuque County Auditor’s Office, 880 Central Avenue in Dubuque, along with satellite locations around the county. Mailed absentee ballots must be received by November 3, 2026, not merely postmarked by that date.

On Election Day, polls in Iowa are open from 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. on November 3, 2026. Dubuque County voters face a full ballot, from governor and U.S. Senate down through county offices and judicial retention questions. The governor’s race pairs Zach Lahn and Derek Wulf for the Republicans against Rob Sand and Dave Muhlbauer for the Democrats, while the Senate race pairs Republican Ashley Hinson against Democrat Josh Turek.

Two measures are also on Dubuque County ballots: Iowa Amendment 1, which would require a two-thirds vote of the Legislature to raise income taxes, and a county conservation bond measure of up to $18 million. Voters can check the official sample ballot for their address through the Dubuque County elections office.

What the early-vote total means for the final result remains pending until Election Day ballots are counted. Early ballots show who has voted, not how any individual voted, and the campaigns’ weekend activity in Dubuque and across Iowa reflected a shared assumption: with more than 440,000 ballots already cast, the remaining undecided and Election Day voters could still decide close statewide races.

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