Biography
Mary Ungs-Sogaard is the Democratic candidate for Iowa State Senate District 33 in the November 3, 2026 general election, running against incumbent Republican Carrie Koelker.[1] In a Ballotpedia survey, she described a career of more than 25 years as a newspaper publisher in the area.[2]
Mary Ungs-Sogaard graduated from Leo High School and earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Iowa in 1980, according to Ballotpedia, which lists her profession as journalism.[1] In the survey, she said she was born and raised in the district in Luxemburg, Iowa, where her parents owned the general store, and that she worked in publishing in Boston before returning to Iowa.[2]
She said she served on the Government Relations committee of the Iowa Newspaper Association for over ten years and was appointed to the Iowa Public Information Board for a four-year term, two years as chair.[2] She said she was named an Iowa Master Editor-Publisher in 2012, helped start a nonprofit child care center, and has worked in nonprofit journalism since leaving newspapers.[2] Her key messages in the survey were cleaning up Iowa's water, improving health systems and properly funding public schools.[2]
- 1.Mary Ungs-Sogaard · Ballotpedia Reference
- 2.Mary Ungs-Sogaard - Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey (2026) · Ballotpedia Candidate's own words
Researched from the cited sources on 2026-10-21. Not yet independently fact-checked.
Iowa Senate District 33
Mary Ungs-Sogaard is on the Nov 3, 2026 ballot for Iowa Senate District 33 as D. Not researched in depth — candidate list only.