Betty R. De Boef (born February 19, 1951) is an American politician in the state of

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the ...

. A Republican, she served in the

Iowa House of Representatives The Iowa House of Representatives is the lower house of the Iowa General Assembly, the upper house being the Iowa Senate. There are 100 seats in the Iowa House of Representatives, representing 100 single-member districts across the state, formed ...

for the 96th district from 2001 to 2003 and for the 76th district from 2003 to 2012.

Early life

De Boef was born in 1951 in

Jasper County, Iowa Jasper County is a county in the U.S. state of Iowa. As of the 2020 census, the population was 37,813. The county seat is Newton. The county was organized in 1846 and is named after Sergeant William Jasper, a Revolutionary War hero. Jasper Cou ...

. Her parents were George and Anna Den Besten. She grew up on a farm outside of Prairie City. She graduated from Pella Christian High School and

Dordt College Dordt University is a private evangelical Christian university in Sioux Center, Iowa. It was founded in 1955 and is affiliated with the Christian Reformed Church in North America. The university name is a reference to the Synod of Dordt (Dord ...

. She was a member of the Oskaloosa Christian Women's Club and the Mahaska County Republican Central Committee. She runs a family farm and wood grinding business. She married her husband, Harold De Boef, on February 20, 1971, and the couple have two sons and two daughters.

Political career

De Boef was first elected to the

for the 96th district in 2001, a position that she held until 2003. She was then elected as the representative for the 76th district between 2003 to 2012. She served on several committees in the legislature: the agriculture committee, the appropriations committee and the environmental protection committee. She was the

ranking member In United States politics, a ranking member is the most senior member of a congressional or state legislative committee from the minority party. On many committees the ranking minority member, along with the Chair, serve as ''ex officio'' members ...

of the agriculture and natural resources appropriations subcommittee. De Boef was re-elected in 2006 with 5,819 votes (54%), defeating Democratic opponent Christopher Hontross.

References

External links

Representative Betty De Boef
''official Iowa General Assembly site'' *
Profile
at ''Iowa House Republicans'' Republican Party members of the Iowa House of Representatives Living people 1951 births Women state legislators in Iowa People from Jasper County, Iowa People from What Cheer, Iowa 21st-century American women {{Iowa-politician-stub