Iowa's 9th congressional district existed from 1873 to 1943. The district was configured four times, first as part of a nine-district plan, then twice in eleven-district plans, then again in a nine-district plan. In the nine-district plans, the Ninth District encompassed the northwestern corner of Iowa, but in the eleven-district plans it encompassed Council Bluffs and nine surrounding counties.

Phase one: 1873–1883

Based on the 1870 census, Iowa's

U.S. House The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...

delegation increased from six to nine members, requiring the

Iowa General Assembly The Iowa General Assembly is the legislative branch of the state government of Iowa. Like the federal United States Congress, the General Assembly is a bicameral body, composed of the upper house Iowa Senate and the lower Iowa House of Repres ...

to reapportion the districts. Because the northwestern area of the state was relatively less populous, its congressional district (the ninth) was by far the largest, encompassing more than a quarter of the state's 99 counties, and running from the

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

border on the north and the Missouri River on the west to Story County, location of the state's geographic center. In this phase, the Ninth District included

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilt ...

, Story, Boone,

Webster Webster may refer to: People *Webster (surname), including a list of people with the surname *Webster (given name), including a list of people with the given name Places Canada *Webster, Alberta *Webster's Falls, Hamilton, Ontario United State ...

, Humboldt, Kossuth, Emmet, Palo Alto, Pocahontas,

Calhoun John C. Calhoun (1782–1850) was the 7th vice president of the United States. Calhoun can also refer to: Surname * Calhoun (surname) Inhabited places in the United States *Calhoun, Georgia *Calhoun, Illinois *Calhoun, Kansas *Calhoun, Kentucky ...

, Greene, Carroll,

Sac SAC or Sac may refer to: Organizations Education * Santa Ana College, California, US * San Antonio College, Texas, US * St. Andrew's College, Aurora, Canada * Students' Administrative Council, University of Toronto, Canada * SISD Student Activiti ...

Buena Vista Buena Vista, meaning "good view" in Spanish, may refer to: Places Canada *Bonavista, Newfoundland and Labrador, with the name being originally derived from “Buena Vista” *Buena Vista, Saskatchewan *Buena Vista, Saskatoon, a neighborhood in ...

Clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4). Clays develop plasticity when wet, due to a molecular film of water surrounding the clay par ...

, Dickinson, Osceola, O'Brien,

Cherokee The Cherokee (; chr, ᎠᏂᏴᏫᏯᎢ, translit=Aniyvwiyaʔi or Anigiduwagi, or chr, ᏣᎳᎩ, links=no, translit=Tsalagi) are one of the indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, t ...

Ida Ida or IDA may refer to: Astronomy * Ida Facula, a mountain on Amalthea, a moon of Jupiter *243 Ida, an asteroid *International Docking Adapter, a docking adapter for the International Space Station Computing *Intel Dynamic Acceleration, a techn ...

Crawford Crawford may refer to: Places Canada * Crawford Bay Airport, British Columbia * Crawford Lake Conservation Area, Ontario United Kingdom * Crawford, Lancashire, a small village near Rainford, Merseyside, England * Crawford, South Lanarkshire, a ...

, Monona,

Woodbury Woodbury may refer to: Geography Antarctica *Woodbury Glacier, a glacier on Graham Land, British Antarctic Territory Australia * Woodbury, Tasmania, a locality in Australia England * Woodbury, Bournemouth, an area in Dorset *Woodbury, East Devo ...

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymouth ...

Sioux The Sioux or Oceti Sakowin (; Dakota language, Dakota: Help:IPA, /otʃʰeːtʰi ʃakoːwĩ/) are groups of Native Americans in the United States, Native American tribes and First Nations in Canada, First Nations peoples in North America. The ...

, and

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of t ...

counties. It included the growing cities of Sioux City, Fort Dodge, and Ames. During this period, the district was represented by Republicans

Jackson Orr Jackson Orr (September 21, 1832 – March 15, 1926) was a lawyer, American Civil War, Civil War officer, businessman, and two-term Republican United States House of Representatives, U.S. Representative from western Iowa. Continuing westward, he sp ...

of Boone County,

S. Addison Oliver Samuel Addison Oliver (July 21, 1833 – July 7, 1912) was an American pioneer, lawyer, judge, and politician from western Iowa. He was born near Washington, Washington County, Pennsylvania, in 1834, and received a classical education at the ...

of Monona County, and Cyrus Carpenter of Webster County.

Phase two: 1883 to 1887

The 1880 census caused Iowa to receive two more seats in the House, requiring reapportionment of the state into eleven districts."Congressional Map of the State of Iowa - Official Census 1885"
Iowa Official Register 1886
at pp. 12-13). The former Ninth District in northwestern Iowa was generally divided to create the new

11th 11 (eleven) is the natural number following 10 and preceding 12. It is the first repdigit. In English, it is the smallest positive integer whose name has three syllables. Name "Eleven" derives from the Old English ', which is first attested i ...

and

10th 10 (ten) is the even natural number following 9 and preceding 11. Ten is the base of the decimal numeral system, by far the most common system of denoting numbers in both spoken and written language. It is the first double-digit number. The rea ...

districts. When southwest and south-central Iowa were divided among four districts rather than three, the new Ninth District was created. It included Crawford County (of the old Ninth District) and Harrison, Shelby, Audubon,

Pottawattamie The Potawatomi , also spelled Pottawatomi and Pottawatomie (among many variations), are a Native American people of the western Great Lakes region, upper Mississippi River and Great Plains. They traditionally speak the Potawatomi language, a me ...

, Cass, Mills, Montgomery, and Fremont counties (of the old Eighth District). It included Council Bluffs in Pottawattamie County, across the Missouri River from

Omaha, Nebraska Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 39th-largest cit ...

and the historical starting point of the

transcontinental railroad A transcontinental railroad or transcontinental railway is contiguous railroad trackage, that crosses a continental land mass and has terminals at different oceans or continental borders. Such networks can be via the tracks of either a single ...

. Only two elections were held under this configuration. Voters elected Democrat William Henry Mills Pusey, then replaced him with Republican

Joseph Lyman Joseph Lyman (September 13, 1840 – July 9, 1890) was a Civil War soldier, lawyer, and judge. In the 1880s, he was a two-term Republican U.S. Representative from Iowa's 9th congressional district in southwestern Iowa. Biography Lyman was b ...

, both of Council Bluffs.

Phase three: 1887 to 1933

The Iowa General Assembly soon readjusted the boundaries of the eleven-district map, allegedly to increase the number of Republican victories."The Congressional Districts," Waterloo Courier, 1886-04-14. Those boundaries would remain in place for 45 years. Fremont County was shifted from the Ninth into the Eighth District, thereby setting the stage for the stunning 1886 upset of incumbent Eighth District Republican Congressman

William Peters Hepburn William Peters Hepburn (November 4, 1833 – February 7, 1916) was an American Civil War officer and an eleven-term Republican congressman from Iowa's now-obsolete 8th congressional district, serving from 1881 to 1887, and from 1893 to 1909. ...

by Fremont County's Independent Republican, Albert R. Anderson. Crawford County was added to the Tenth District, and two counties from

Iowa's 7th congressional district Iowa's 7th congressional district is a former congressional district in Iowa. It was eliminated after the 1970 election, leaving Iowa with six congressional districts. The state has since been reduced to four congressional districts. Redistrict ...

( Guthrie and Adair) were added to the Ninth. Lyman retained his seat after reapportionment, and he was followed by

Joseph Rea Reed Joseph Rea Reed (March 12, 1835 – April 2, 1925) was an Iowa Supreme Court justice, one-term Republican U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House ...

, Thomas Bowman,

Alva L. Hager Alva Lysander Hager (October 29, 1850 – January 29, 1923) was a three-term Republican Party (United States), Republican United States House of Representatives, U.S. Representative from Iowa's 9th congressional district in the 1890s. Biograp ...

Smith McPherson Smith McPherson (February 14, 1848 – January 17, 1915) was a United States representative from Iowa and a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Iowa. Education and career Born on February ...

, Walter I. Smith,

William R. Green William Raymond Green (November 7, 1856 – June 11, 1947) was a United States representative from Iowa, Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee and later was a judge of the Court of Claims. His son, William R. Green Jr., served on the ...

Earl W. Vincent Earl W. Vincent (March 27, 1886 – May 22, 1953) was a Republican U.S. Representative from Iowa's 9th congressional district in 1928-29, a delegate to the Republican State convention in 1930, and was appointed judge of the fifth judicial distri ...

, and Charles Swanson. All were Republican lawyers except Bowman, a Democratic newspaperman. All were from Council Bluffs except Hager (from Adair County), McPherson (from Montgomery County), Green (from Audubon County), and Vincent (from Guthrie County). The General Assembly's 45-year failure to reapportion congressional districts resulted in malapportionment, which was particularly severe in certain districts in Iowa. Residents of three other southern Iowa districts (the 1st, 6th, and

8th 8 (eight) is the natural number following 7 and preceding 9. In mathematics 8 is: * a composite number, its proper divisors being , , and . It is twice 4 or four times 2. * a power of two, being 2 (two cubed), and is the first number of t ...

) gained in per capita influence as the districts' population growth slowed or reversed.Editorial, "A Brilliant Idea," Waterloo Evening Courier, 1921-01-26 at 6. The 9th district did not decline in political influence as much as districts that were oversized for too long (like the 10th and 11th) and districts with Iowa's largest cities (like the

2nd A second is the base unit of time in the International System of Units (SI). Second, Seconds or 2nd may also refer to: Mathematics * 2 (number), as an ordinal (also written as ''2nd'' or ''2d'') * Second of arc, an angular measurement unit ...

3rd Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * Second#Sexagesimal divisions of calendar time and day, 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute'' Places * 3rd Street (d ...

and

7th 7 (seven) is the natural number following 6 and preceding 8. It is the only prime number preceding a cube (algebra), cube. As an early prime number in the series of positive integers, the number seven has greatly symbolic associations in religion ...

). Instead, it was one of three Iowa districts that, by 1920, deviated less than a ten percent from the ideal "one person, one vote" population.

Phase four: 1933 to 1943

The 1930 census reflected that Iowa, like other rural

Great Plains The Great Plains (french: Grandes Plaines), sometimes simply "the Plains", is a broad expanse of flatland in North America. It is located west of the Mississippi River and east of the Rocky Mountains, much of it covered in prairie, steppe, an ...

states, had not grown as much as states such as

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, causing Iowa to lose seats in Congress for the first time. It lost two seats, forcing the Republican-dominated 1931 General Assembly to adopt a nine-district plan. As in 1872, the Ninth District included Sioux City and the northwestern corner of Iowa, but this time it included only thirteen counties (Dickinson, Clay, Buena Vista, Sac, Ida, Cherokee, O'Brien, Osceola, Lyon, Sioux, Plymouth, Woodbury, and Monona).Iowa Official Register 1933-34
at p. 6. The first election under the nine-district plan, in 1932, coincided with the

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...

landslide, causing a northwestern Iowa Democrat (

Guy M. Gillette Guy Mark Gillette (February 3, 1879March 3, 1973) was an American politician serving as a Democratic U.S. Representative and Senator from Iowa. In the U.S. Senate, Gillette was elected, re-elected, defeated, elected again, and defeated again. ...

of Cherokee County) to win a congressional race for only the second time ever. When Gillette ran for the U.S. Senate he was succeeded by another Democrat,

Vincent Harrington Vincent Francis Harrington (May 16, 1903 – November 29, 1943) was a Democratic U.S. Representative from Iowa. Harrington was commissioned in the United States Army Air Forces after the Pearl Harbor attack, resigned from Congress when Presi ...

of Sioux City. When Harrington could not complete the term he won in 1940 after he resigned to join the U.S. Army Air Corps in 1942, Republican Dickinson County Judge

Harry E. Narey Harry Elsworth Narey (May 15, 1885 – August 18, 1962) was a Republican U.S. Representative from Iowa for several weeks between the 1942 general election and the commencement of the 1943-44 (78th) Congress. He was the last Congressman to serve in ...

served the final six weeks of his term. The district was eliminated after the 1940 census. All of the district was renamed the 8th district with the exception of Monona County, which was placed in the 7th district.

List of members representing the district

References