Iowa Senate

|Map display|default=1}} Majority

Minority

(25 seats) (25 seats) Iowa State Capitol Des Moines, Iowa 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 of Iowa with populations of approximately 63,807 per constituency, . 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 committees, 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. 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). 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 Amy Sinclair of the 12th District. The Majority Leader is Republican Jack Whitver of the 23rd District. The Minority Leader is Democrat Janice Weiner of the 36th District.

Committee leadership

*All chairs and vice chairs are Republicans. All ranking members are Democrats.

Current composition

Senators

Notes

Past notable members

Federal offices

10 members became US Senators including: Samuel J. Kirkwood, George G. Wright, James F. Wilson, Albert B. Cummins (also served as President Pro Tempore of the Senate), Lafayette Young, George A. Wilson, Guy Gillette, Jack Miller, Roger Jepsen and Joni Ernst.

5 members became members of the US House of Representatives including: James F. Wilson, Madison Miner Walden, Steve King, Randy Feenstra and Mariannette Miller-Meeks.

3 members became Federal Cabinet Members including: Samuel J. Kirkwood as Secretary of Interior, George W. McCrary, Secretary of War and Tom Vilsack as Secretary of Agriculture.

State offices

13 members became Governor including: Samuel J. Kirkwood, William Larrabee, Beryl F. Carroll, Albert B. Cummins, Warren Garst, John Hammill (served as Acting Governor in 1922, then Governor in 1925), Daniel Webster Turner, George A. Wilson, William S. Beardsley, Leo Elthon, Robert D. Fulton, Tom Vilsack and Kim Reynolds.

28 members became Lieutenant Governor including: Nicholas J. Rusch, John R. Needham, Enoch W. Eastman, Benjamin F. Gue, John Scott, Madison Miner Walden, Henry C. Bulis, Joseph Dysart, Frank T. Campbell, Alfred N. Poyneer, Samuel L. Bestow, Warren S. Dungan, Mathies Parrott, Warren Garst, John Hammill, Clem F. Kimball, Arch W. McFarlane, John K. Valentine, Kenneth A. Evans, Leo Elthon, Edward J. McManus, Robert D. Fulton, Roger Jepsen, Arthur Neu, Joy Corning, Patty Judge, Kim Reynolds and Chris Cournoyer.

1 member was twice the Chief Justice of the Iowa Supreme Court and Associate Justice of the Iowa Supreme Court: George G. Wright

3 members held state level elected positions including: Beryl F. Carroll as Iowa State Auditor from 1903 to 1909, Richard C. Turner as Attorney General of Iowa from 1968 to 1979 and Patty Judge as Iowa Secretary of Agriculture from 1999 to 2007.

Past composition of the Senate

Main article: Political party strength in Iowa

References

References

1. Opsahl, Robin. (September 24, 2025). "Sen. Mike Klimesh elected Iowa Senate majority leader". Iowa Capital Dispatch.
2. Iowa Legislative Services Agency. (October 21, 2021). "Second Redistricting Plan".
3. "The Three Branches of Government". Iowa General Assembly.
4. "The Drafting of Iowa's Constitution". Steven Cross, Iowa General Assembly.
5. "Iowa Legislature - Leadership".
6. Agency, Iowa Legislative Services. "Committees".
7. [[David Johnson (Iowa politician). David Johnson]] (District 1) [[Party switching in the United States. switched parties]] from Republican to "No Party" on June 7, 2016. [http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/politics/2016/06/07/iowa-gop-lawmaker-dumps-party-protest-trump/85557768/]
8. Republican [[Chris Cournoyer]] (District 49) resigned to become [[lieutenant governor of Iowa]].[https://www.iowapublicradio.org/state-government-news/2024-12-16/kim-reynolds-chris-cournoyer-new-iowa-lieutenant-governor]
9. Democrat [[Mike Zimmer (politician). Mike Zimmer]] elected to succeed Cournoyer.[https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/politics/2025/01/29/mike-zimmer-iowa-senate-district-35-special-election-results/78019490007/]
10. Republican [[Rocky De Witt]] (District 1) died.[https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/iowa-sen-rocky-de-witt-dies-of-pancreatic-cancer-at-age-66/ar-AA1Hr81e?ocid=BingNewsSerp]
11. Democrat [[Catelin Drey]] is elected to succeed De Witt.[https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/5471284-drey-victory-breaks-gop-majority/]
12. Democrat [[Claire Celsi]] (District 12) died. [https://iowacapitaldispatch.com/briefs/iowa-sen-claire-celsi-dies-at-age-59/]
13. Democrat [[Renee Hardman]] is elected to succeed Celsi. [https://iowacapitaldispatch.com/2025/12/30/democrats-retain-west-des-moines-iowa-senate-seat-following-special-election/]