Iowa Senate

Iowa Senate
Iowa Senate
Iowa General Assembly
Type
Type	Upper house
Term limits	None
History
New session started	January 11, 2021
Leadership
President	Jake Chapman (R) ; since January 11, 2021
President pro Tempore	Brad Zaun (R) ; since January 11, 2021
Majority Leader	Jack Whitver (R) ; since March 14, 2018
Minority Leader	Zach Wahls (D) ; since January 11, 2021
Structure
Political groups	Majority Republican (32); Minority Democratic (18);
Length of term	4 years
Authority	Legislative Department, Section 3, Iowa Constitution
Salary	$25,000/year + per diem
Elections
Last election	November 6, 2018; (25 seats)
Next election	November 3, 2020; (25 seats)
Redistricting	Legislative Service Agency with legislative approval
Meeting place
	State Senate Chamber; Iowa State Capitol; Des Moines, Iowa
Website
	Iowa General Assembly

Coordinates: 41°35′28″N 93°36′14″W / 41.591°N 93.604°W / 41.591; -93.604

The Iowa Senate is the upper house of the Iowa General Assembly, United States. There are 50 seats in the Iowa Senate, representing 50 single-member districts across the state of Iowa with populations of approximately 60,927 per constituency, as of the 2010 United States Census.^[1] Each Senate district is composed of two House districts. The Senate meets at the Iowa State Capitol in Des Moines.

Unlike the lower house, the Iowa House of Representatives, Senators serve four-year terms, with no term limits. Terms are staggered so that half the Senate is up for reelection every two years.

Leadership[]

The President of the Senate presides over the body, whose powers include referring bills to committee, recognizing members during debate, and making procedural rulings. Unlike the more powerful Speaker of the Iowa House of Representatives, the Senate President cannot appoint committee chairmanships or shuffle committee memberships.^[2] The Lieutenant Governor of Iowa was the presiding officer of the Senate until 1988, when an amendment to the Constitution of Iowa was passed in a referendum (effective from 1991).^[3] The other partisan Senate leadership positions, such as the Majority and Minority leaders, are elected by their respective party caucuses to head their parties in the chamber.

The President of the Senate is Republican Jake Chapman of the 10th District. The Majority Leader is Republican Jack Whitver of the 19th District. The Minority Leader is Democrat Zach Wahls of the 37th District.

Committee leadership[]

Committee	Chair	Vice Chair	Ranking Member
Agriculture	Dan Zumbach	Annette Sweeney	Kevin Kinney
Appropriations	Tim Kraayenbrink	Mark Lofgren	Joe Bolkcom
Commerce	Jason Schultz	Carrie Koelker	Jim Lykam
Education	Amy Sinclair	Jeff Taylor	Herman Quirmbach
Ethics	Carrie Koelker	Jim Carlin	Pam Jochum
Government Oversight	Jason Schultz	Craig Williams	Claire Celsi
Human Resources	Jeff Edler	Mark Costello	Liz Mathis
Judiciary	Brad Zaun	Julian Garrett	Kevin Kinney
Labor and Business Relations	Zach Whiting	Jesse Green	Nate Boulton
Local Government	Tom Shipley	Mike Klimesh	Jackie Smith
Natural Resources and Environment	Annette Sweeney	Dawn Driscoll	Sarah Trone Garriott
Rules and Administration	Jack Whitver	Jake Chapman	Zach Wahls
State Government	Roby Smith	Chris Cournoyer	Tony Bisignano
Transportation	Waylon Brown	Adrian Dickey	Eric Giddens
Veterans Affairs	Jim Carlin	Jeff Reichman	Eric Giddens
Ways and Means	Dan Dawson	Tim Goodwin	Pam Jochum

*All chairs and vice chairs are members of the Republican Party of Iowa. All ranking members are members of the Democratic Party of Iowa.^[4]

Current composition[]

Iowa Senate districts from 2012 to 2022

Current partisan composition

Affiliation	Party (shading indicates majority caucus)			Total

	Democratic	Republican	Independent		Vacant
End 2012	26	23	0	49	1

Begin 2013	26	24	0	50	0
End of 2014 session	26	24	0	50	0

Begin 2015	26	24	0	50	0
End 2016 session^[5]	26	23	1	50	0

Begin 2017	20	29	1	50	0
End 2018	20	29	1	50	0

Begin 2019	18	32	0	50	0
Latest voting share	36%	64%	0%

Past notable members[]

Samuel J. Kirkwood, two time Governor of Iowa (1860–64, 1876–77); two time U.S. Senator (1866–67), (1877–81); U.S. Secretary of the Interior (1881–82)
George G. Wright, U.S. Senator from 1871 to 1877
Tom Vilsack, Incumbent United States Secretary of Agriculture since 2021 and from 2009 to 2017, former Governor of Iowa from 1999 to 2007, and briefly Democratic candidate for President of the United States in 2008
George A. Wilson, Governor of Iowa from 1939 to 1943
Patty Judge, former Lieutenant Governor of Iowa (2007-2011), former Iowa Secretary of Agriculture (1999-2007)
Steve King, former U.S. Representative for Iowa's 4th congressional district (2003–2021))
Joni Ernst, Incumbent U.S. Senator, since 2015
Kim Reynolds, Incumbent Governor of Iowa since 2017, former Lieutenant Governor of Iowa (2011-2017)
Randy Feenstra, Incumbent U.S. Representative for Iowa's 4th congressional district since 2021
Mariannette Miller-Meeks, Incumbent U.S. Representative for Iowa's 2nd congressional district since 2021 and Republican nominee for Iowa's 2nd congressional district in 2008, 2010, and 2014

SENATE CHAMBER seating chart detail from the 1882 Iowa Redbook

Past composition of the Senate[]

References[]

^ Iowa Legislative Services Agency (2011-03-31). "First Redistricting Plan" (PDF). p. 3. Retrieved 2012-11-17.
^ "The Three Branches of Government". Iowa General Assembly. Archived from the original on 2005-11-10. Retrieved 2008-03-10.
^ "The Drafting of Iowa's Constitution". Steven Cross, Iowa General Assembly. Retrieved 2008-03-10.
^ Agency, Iowa Legislative Services. "Committees". www.legis.iowa.gov. Retrieved 2018-05-12.
^ David Johnson (District 1) switched parties from Republican to "No Party" on June 7, 2016. [1]

External links[]

Iowa Legislature official government website
Iowa Senate at Ballotpedia
Iowa Senate Democrats
Iowa Senate Republicans
Current Iowa Senators

[1] Iowa Legislative Services Agency (2011-03-31). "First Redistricting Plan" (PDF). p. 3. Retrieved 2012-11-17.

[2] "The Three Branches of Government". Iowa General Assembly. Archived from the original on 2005-11-10. Retrieved 2008-03-10.

[3] "The Drafting of Iowa's Constitution". Steven Cross, Iowa General Assembly. Retrieved 2008-03-10.

[4] Agency, Iowa Legislative Services. "Committees". www.legis.iowa.gov. Retrieved 2018-05-12.

[johnsonnoparty-5] David Johnson (District 1) switched parties from Republican to "No Party" on June 7, 2016. [1]

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

hide v t Members of the Iowa Senate
89th General Assembly (January 11, 2021 – January 8, 2023) President of the Senate Jake Chapman (R) President pro tempore Brad Zaun (R) Majority Leader Jack Whitver (R) Minority Leader Zach Wahls (D)
Zach Whiting (R) Jeff Taylor (R) Jim Carlin (R) Dennis Guth (R) Tim Kraayenbrink (R) Craig Williams (R) Jackie Smith (D) Dan Dawson (R) Jason Schultz (R) Jake Chapman (R) Tom Shipley (R) Mark Costello (R) Julian Garrett (R) Amy Sinclair (R) Zach Nunn (R) Nate Boulton (D) Tony Bisignano (D) Janet Petersen (D) Jack Whitver (R) Brad Zaun (R) Claire Celsi (D) Sarah Trone Garriott (D) Herman Quirmbach (D) Jesse Green (R) Annette Sweeney (R) Waylon Brown (R) Amanda Ragan (D) Mike Klimesh (R) Carrie Koelker (R) Eric Giddens (D) William Dotzler (D) Craig Johnson (R) Rob Hogg (D) Liz Mathis (D) Todd Taylor (D) Jeff Edler (R) Zach Wahls (D) Dawn Driscoll (R) Kevin Kinney (D) Ken Rozenboom (R) Adrian Dickey (R) Jeff Reichman (R) Joe Bolkcom (D) Tim Goodwin (R) Jim Lykam (D) Mark Lofgren (R) Roby Smith (R) Dan Zumbach (R) Chris Cournoyer (R) Pam Jochum (D)
Republican (32) Democratic (18) Iowa General Assembly Iowa House of Representatives Iowa Senate

show v t Legislatures of the United States
United States Congress	United States House of Representatives United States Senate
State legislatures	Alabama (H, S) Alaska (H, S) Arizona (H, S) Arkansas (H, S) California (A, S) Colorado (H, S) Connecticut (H, S) Delaware (H, S) Florida (H, S) Georgia (H, S) Hawaii (H, S) Idaho (H, S) Illinois (H, S) Indiana (H, S) Iowa (H, S) Kansas (H, S) Kentucky (H, S) Louisiana (H, S) Maine (H, S) Maryland (H, S) Massachusetts (H, S) Michigan (H, S) Minnesota (H, S) Mississippi (H, S) Missouri (H, S) Montana (H, S) Nebraska Nevada (A, S) New Hampshire (H, S) New Jersey (GA, S) New Mexico (H, S) New York (A, S) North Carolina (H, S) North Dakota (H, S) Ohio (H, S) Oklahoma (H, S) Oregon (H, S) Pennsylvania (H, S) Rhode Island (H, S) South Carolina (H, S) South Dakota (H, S) Tennessee (H, S) Texas (H, S) Utah (H, S) Vermont (H, S) Virginia (H, S) Washington (H, S) West Virginia (H, S) Wisconsin (A, S) Wyoming (H, S)
Other legislatures	District of Columbia American Samoa (H, S) Guam Northern Mariana Islands (H, S) Puerto Rico (H, S) U.S. Virgin Islands
Legislative elections	2010 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022
List of U.S. state legislators

show v t State of Iowa
Des Moines (capital)
Topics	Archaeology Area codes Attorney General Auditor of State Capitol Code Congressional districts Crime Delegations Representatives Senators Elections Caucuses Environment Flag Governor History Historic Places Index Legislature House Senate People Native Americans Political parties Democratic Libertarian Republican Seal Secretary of Agriculture Secretary of State State Parks Supreme Court Symbols Treasurer of State
Regions	Coteau des Prairies Des Moines metropolitan area Dissected Till Plains Driftless Area Great River Road Honey Lands Iowa Great Lakes Loess Hills Omaha–Council Bluffs metropolitan area Quad Cities Siouxland
Largest cities	Ames Ankeny Bettendorf Burlington Cedar Falls Cedar Rapids Clinton Council Bluffs Davenport Des Moines Dubuque Fort Dodge Iowa City Marion Marshalltown Mason City Muscatine Ottumwa Sioux City Urbandale Waterloo West Des Moines
Counties	Adair Adams Allamakee Appanoose Audubon Benton Black Hawk Boone Bremer Buchanan Buena Vista Butler Calhoun Carroll Cass Cedar Cerro Gordo Cherokee Chickasaw Clarke Clay Clayton Clinton Crawford Dallas Davis Decatur Delaware Des Moines Dickinson Dubuque Emmet Fayette Floyd Franklin Fremont Greene Grundy Guthrie Hamilton Hancock Hardin Harrison Henry Howard Humboldt Ida Iowa Jackson Jasper Jefferson Johnson Jones Keokuk Kossuth Lee Linn Louisa Lucas Lyon Madison Mahaska Marion Marshall Mills Mitchell Monona Monroe Montgomery Muscatine O'Brien Osceola Page Palo Alto Plymouth Pocahontas Polk Pottawattamie Poweshiek Ringgold Sac Scott Shelby Sioux Story Tama Taylor Union Van Buren Wapello Warren Washington Wayne Webster Winnebago Winneshiek Woodbury Worth Wright

show v t Statewide political officials of Iowa
U.S. senators	Chuck Grassley Joni Ernst
State government	Kim Reynolds, Governor Adam Gregg, Lieutenant Governor Paul Pate, Secretary of State Tom Miller, Attorney General Rob Sand, Auditor of State Michael Fitzgerald, Treasurer of State Mike Naig, Secretary of Agriculture
State Senate	Charles Schneider, President Jack Whitver, Majority Leader Rob Hogg, Minority Leader
State House	Pat Grassley, Speaker Chris Hagenow, Majority Leader Mark Smith, Minority Leader
Supreme Court (appointed, retained by election)	Susan Christensen, Chief Justice Christopher McDonald Brent Appel Edward Mansfield Thomas Waterman Dana Oxley Matthew McDermott, Associate Justices

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