Iowa Senate

Iowa Senate
Iowa General Assembly

Type
Type	Upper house
Term limits	None
History
New session started	January 14, 2013
Leadership
President of the Senate	Pam Jochum (D) since January 14, 2013
President pro Tempore	Steve Sodders (D) since January 14, 2013
Majority Leader	Michael Gronstal (D) since January 8, 2007
Minority Leader	Bill Dix (R) since January 14, 2013
Structure
Seats	50

Political groups	Governing party Democrat (26) Opposition party Republican (24)
Length of term	4 years
Authority	Legislative Department, Section 3, Iowa Constitution
Salary	$25,000/year + per diem
Elections
Last election	November 4, 2014 (50 seats)
Next election	November 1, 2018 (50 seats)
Redistricting	Legislative Service Agency with legislative approval
Meeting place

State Senate Chamber Iowa State Capitol Des Moines, Iowa
Website
Iowa General Assembly
Footnotes
Even though it is an even-district year, Senate District 49 was on the ballot due to the 2012 redistricting.^[1] The results of the election in Senate District 22 were counted, but not canvassed due to the death of incumbent candidate Pat Ward.^[2]

The Iowa Senate is the upper house of the Iowa General Assembly. There are 50 seats in the Iowa Senate, representing 50 single-member districts across the state with populations of approximately 60,927 per constituency, as of the 2010 United States Census.^[3] 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 half of the Senate staggered for re-election every two years. There are no term limits for the Senate.

1 Leadership
- 1.1 Leaders
2 Current composition
- 2.1 Past notable members
3 See also
4 References
5 External links

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.^[4] Since the passage of an amendment to the Iowa Constitution by state voters in 1988 and made effective in 1991, the Lieutenant Governor of Iowa has no presiding role over the Senate, and instead has had its powers transferred to taking duties designated by the Governor of Iowa.^[5] 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 Democrat Pam Jochum of the 50th District. The Majority Leader is Democrat Michael Gronstal of the 8th District. The Minority Leader is Republican Bill Dix of the 25th District.

Leaders

Position	Name	Party	District
President of the Senate	Pam Jochum	Democratic	4
Majority Leader	Michael Gronstal	Democratic	50
Minority Leader	Bill Dix	Republican	25

Current composition

Iowa Senate districts for 2012-2022

Affiliation	Party (Shading indicates majority caucus)		Total

	Democratic	Republican		Vacant
End of previous legislature	26	23	49	1

Begin	26	24	50	0
October 2, 2013^[6]	26	23	49	1
Latest voting share	700153000000000000053%	700147000000000000047%

Past notable members

Steve King, current U.S. House Representative, 2003 to present.
Samuel J. Kirkwood, two time Governor of Iowa (1860–1864), (1876–1877); two time U.S. Senator (1866–1867), (1877–1881); U.S. Secretary of the Interior (1881–1882).
Tom Vilsack, Governor of Iowa from 1999 to 2007, briefly Democratic candidate for the President of the United States in 2006, and current U.S. Secretary of Agriculture.
Governor of Iowa from 1939 to 1943.
U.S. Senator from 1871 to 1877.
Patty Judge, Iowa Secretary of Agriculture from 1999 to 2007, Lieutenant Governor of Iowa from 2007 to 2011

References

^ Deeth, John (2012-08-19). "District Of The Day 3: Iowa Senate District 49, Iowa House District 97 & 98". John Deeth Blog. Retrieved 2012-11-02.
^ Deeth, John (2012-10-15). "Win or lose, Ward's death mean special election". John Deeth Blog. Retrieved 2012-11-02.
^ 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. Retrieved 2008-03-10.
^ "The Drafting of Iowa's Constitution". Steven Cross, Iowa General Assembly. Retrieved 2008-03-10.
^ Republican Kent Sorenson (District 13) resigned. [1]

External links

Iowa Legislature official government website
Iowa Senate at Ballotpedia
State Senate of Iowa at Project Vote Smart
Iowa Senate Democrats
Iowa Senate Republicans
Current Iowa Senators

Members of the Iowa Senate

85th General Assembly (2013-2014)

President of the Senate: Pam Jochum (D)
President pro Tempore: Steve Sodders (D)
Majority Leader: Michael Gronstal (D)
Minority Leader: Bill Dix (R)

David Johnson (R)
Randy Feenstra (R)
Bill Anderson (R)
Dennis Guth (R)
Daryl Beall (D)
Mark Segebart (R)
Rick Bertrand (R)
Michael Gronstal (D)
Nancy Boettger (R)
Jake Chapman (R)

Hubert Houser (R)
Joni Ernst (R)
Julian Garrett
Amy Sinclair (R)
Dennis Black (D)
Dick Dearden (D)
Jack Hatch (D)
Janet Petersen (D)
Jack Whitver (R)
Brad Zaun (R)

Matt McCoy (D)
Charles Schneider (R)
Herman Quirmbach (D)
Jerry Behn (R)
Bill Dix (R)
Mary Jo Wilhelm (D)
Amanda Ragan (D)
Michael Breitbach (R)
Tod Bowman (D)
Jeff Danielson (D)

William Dotzler (D)
Brian Schoenjahn (D)
Rob Hogg (D)
Liz Mathis (D)
Wally Horn (D)
Steve Sodders (D)
Robert Dvorsky (D)
Tim Kapucian (R)
Sandra Greiner (R)
Ken Rozenboom (R)

Mark Chelgren (R)
Rich Taylor (D)
Joe Bolkcom (D)
Thomas Courtney (D)
Joe Seng (D)
Chris Brase (D)
Roby Smith (R)
Dan Zumbach (R)
Rita Hart (D)
Pam Jochum (D)

Legislatures of the United States

United States Congress	United States House of Representatives United States Senate

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Other legislatures	District of Columbia American Samoa (H, S) Guam Northern Mariana Islands (H, S) Puerto Rico (H, S) U.S. Virgin Islands

State of Iowa

Des Moines (capital)

Topics	Index Geology Environment Archaeology Native Americans History Historic Places Iowans Visitor attractions State parks Delegations Demographics Governors Legislature Flag Seal Sports Area codes

Society	Culture Crime Demographics Economy Education Politics

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

Elected statewide political officials of Iowa

U.S. Senators	Chuck Grassley Tom Harkin

State government	Terry Branstad, Governor Kim Reynolds, Lieutenant Governor Matt Schultz, Secretary of State Tom Miller, Attorney General Bill Northey, Secretary of Agriculture Mary Mosiman, Auditor of State Michael Fitzgerald, Treasurer of State

Senate	Pam Jochum, President Michael Gronstal, Majority Leader Bill Dix, Minority Leader

House	Kraig Paulsen, Speaker Linda Upmeyer, Majority Leader Mark Smith, Minority Leader

Supreme Court (appointed - retention election)	Mark Cady, Chief Justice David Wiggins Daryl Hecht Brent Appel Bruce Zager Edward Mansfield Thomas Waterman

Iowa Senate

Iowa Senate

Contents

Leadership

Leaders

Current composition

Past notable members

See also

References

External links

Categories

Iowa

Encyclopedia Article

Iowa House of Representatives

Encyclopedia Article

Iowa General Assembly

Encyclopedia Article

Iowa Democratic Party

Encyclopedia Article

United States Senate

Encyclopedia Article

Suggestions

Jack Hatch

Encyclopedia Article

Iowa House of Representatives

Encyclopedia Article

Brad Zaun

Encyclopedia Article

James Seymour (Iowa politician)

Encyclopedia Article

Larry McKibben

Encyclopedia Article