Liz Mathis, who is well-known in Eastern Iowa for her time as an anchor with KCRG in Cedar Rapids and KWWL in Waterloo, won her race for an Iowa state senate on Tuesday.

Since leaving KCRG in 2007, Mathis has worked as a community relations executive with a family service and child welfare organization.  She announced her bid for the vacant senate seat in September.

Running as a Democrat, Mathis, 53, gained roughly 56% of the vote in a race in which she raised significantly more money than her competitors.

Mathis spent over 25 years working in TV news.  She was an anchor at ABC-affiliate KCRG from 1998 to 2007 and, before that, worked as an executive producer and anchor at NBC-affiliate KWWL for 16 years.