Iowa Senate
Coordinates: 41°35′28″N 93°36′14″W / 41.591°N 93.604°W
Iowa Senate | |
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Iowa General Assembly | |
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Type | |
Type | |
Term limits | None |
History | |
New session started | January 14, 2013 |
Leadership | |
President pro Tempore | |
Minority Leader | |
Majority Leader | |
Structure | |
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Political groups |
Majority party Minority party |
Length of term | 4 years |
Authority | Legislative Department, Section 3, Iowa Constitution |
Salary | $25,000/year + per diem |
Elections | |
Last election |
November 4, 2014 (25 seats) |
Next election |
November 1, 2016 (25 seats) |
Redistricting | Legislative Service Agency with legislative approval |
Meeting place | |
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State Senate Chamber Iowa State Capitol Des Moines, Iowa | |
Website | |
Iowa General Assembly | |
Footnotes | |
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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.[4] 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.
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.[5] The Lieutenant Governor of Iowa was the presiding officer of the Senate until 1988, when an amendment to the Iowa Constitution was passed in a referendum (effective from 1991).[6] 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 |
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President of the Senate | Pam Jochum | Democratic | 4 |
Majority Leader | Michael Gronstal | Democratic | 50 |
Minority Leader | Bill Dix | Republican | 25 |
Current composition
Affiliation | Party (Shading indicates majority caucus) |
Total | |||
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Democratic | Republican | Ind | Vacant | ||
End of 2012 | 26 | 23 | 0 | 49 | 1 |
Begin 2013 | 26 | 24 | 0 | 50 | 0 |
End of previous legislature | |||||
Begin | 26 | 24 | 0 | 50 | 0 |
June 7, 2016[1] | 23 | 1 | |||
Latest voting share | 52% | 46% | 2% |
Past notable members
- 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).
- George G. Wright, U.S. Senator from 1871 to 1877.
- Tom Vilsack, Governor of Iowa from 1999 to 2007, briefly Democratic candidate for the President of the United States in 2008, and current U.S. Secretary of Agriculture.
- George A. Wilson, Governor of Iowa from 1939 to 1943.
- Patty Judge, Iowa Secretary of Agriculture from 1999 to 2007, Lieutenant Governor of Iowa from 2007 to 2011
- Steve King, current U.S. House Representative, 2003-present.
- Joni Ernst, current U.S. Senator who has been serving since 2015.
See also
References
- 1 2 David Johnson (District 1) switched parties from Republican to "No Party".
- ↑ 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.
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Iowa Senate. |
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Iowa State Senators of the 85th General Assembly. |
- Iowa Legislature official government website
- Iowa Senate at Ballotpedia
- Iowa Senate Democrats
- Iowa Senate Republicans
- Current Iowa Senators