Secretary of State · Democratic

Ryan Peterman — 2026 Iowa candidate research

Former U.S. Naval officer and aviator with national-security and legislative experience. Peterman has described service as a naval aviator, Senate defense fellow, and mentor at the U.S. Naval Academy.

Open the interactive Ryan Peterman profile, media archive and heat-gauge reviews →

Public record and background

• More than a decade of military service.
• Worked on defense policy in the U.S. Senate.
• Campaign focus includes election administration, security, access, and public trust.

Documented achievements and notable work

• {'title': 'U.S. Navy service', 'detail': 'A former Naval officer and helicopter pilot whose biography includes more than a decade of military service.', 'sourceId': 'peterman-dass'}
• {'title': 'National-security work', 'detail': 'His public biography includes defense-policy and national-security work, including experience connected to the U.S. Senate.', 'sourceId': 'peterman-dass'}
• {'title': 'Naval Academy mentoring', 'detail': 'His biography describes work mentoring future officers at the U.S. Naval Academy.', 'sourceId': 'peterman-dass'}
• {'title': 'Election-records oversight campaign', 'detail': 'As a candidate, he has used public-records requests to scrutinize state handling of voter-registration data.', 'sourceId': 'peterman-icd'}

Fairness note

Peterman has challenged Secretary Paul Pate over Iowa voter-data sharing with the U.S. Department of Justice. Pate says his office relied on legal advice and federal assurances. That is a genuine policy and legal dispute, not a simple fact-check.

Primary and supporting sources

• Official campaign website — Campaign
• Iowa Capital Dispatch — voter-data records requests (July 22, 2026) — Independent reporting
• Democratic Association of Secretaries of State — Iowa 2026 candidate biography — Aligned organization / biography