U.S. Sen. Charles Grassley easily won re-election Tuesday night over Democratic challenger Roxanne Conlin. Grassley won 63 percent of the vote; Conlin earned merely 34 percent.

A poll released early this year showed Conlin was within striking distance of the 30-year incumbent.

However, more recent data showed Grassley with a safe lead. Before Tuesday election, New York Times blogger Nate Silver gave Grassley a 100 percent chance of winning.

Grassley served in the Iowa Legislature during the 1960s and ’70s. He was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1974, where he served until his election to the U.S. Senate in 1980.

Grassley is Iowa’s senior senator and holds influential positions on Senate Finance Committee, Senate Budget Committee, and the Senate Judiciary Committee.

— by Adam B Sullivan