By O. Kay Henderson (Radio Iowa)

Just 8% of registered Iowa voters cast ballots in Tuesday’s Primary Elections.

“It’s a quiet election and we’ll be analyzing that for some time to figure out: ‘What was that about?’ Is it voter fatigue? Is it because there wasn’t some big statewide primary?” Secretary of State Paul Pate, Iowa’s top election official, said during an interview with Radio Iowa.

2012 was the last time there was no statewide race in Iowa’s Primary Elections and about 9% of eligible voters participated. For this week’s primaries, nearly 184,000 Iowans cast ballots,  out of more than 2.2 million registered voters.

“I’m going to be looking at those numbers personally just to see if the base vote is out there for Republicans and Democrats,” Pate said, “because it’ll translate into what happens this November.”

Primary results give the winning candidates insight into what worked and what didn’t according to Pate.

“How did our yard signs go going out? How did our phone calls go getting the vote out? Did we get the number we thought we were going to get in turnout? That is your rehearsal,” Pate said. “Even if you don’t have anybody running against you in a primary, it is a rehearsal.”

There were three competitive congressional primaries on Tuesday’s ballot. In the first congressional district, incumbent Republican Mariannette Miller-Meeks won by 12 points. Republican Congressman Randy Feenstra finished 20% ahead of his primary challenger in the fourth congressional district. In the third district, Democrat Lanon Baccam won 84% of that primary’s vote and will challenge Republican Congressman Zach Nunn in the General Election — which is 153 days away.