Ruth Ann Gaines (born 1947) is the Iowa State Representative from the 33rd District. A

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

, she has 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 ...

since 2011.

Early life

Gaines was born in 1947 in

Des Moines, Iowa Des Moines () is the capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is also the county seat of Polk County. A small part of the city extends into Warren County. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moines, ...

. In 1965, she graduated from St. Joseph Academy. She received a B.A. in drama/speech from Clarke College in 1969 and an M.A. in dramatic art from the

University of California, Santa Barbara The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a public land-grant research university in Santa Barbara, California with 23,196 undergraduates and 2,983 graduate students enrolled in 2021–2022. It is part of the U ...

in 1970.

Political career

, Gaines serves on several committees in the Iowa House: the Education, Public Safety, and Veterans Affairs committees. She also serves as 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'' member ...

of the Government Oversight committee.

Legacy

The auditorium at East High School in Des Moines was named after Gaines.

Electoral history

*incumbent

References

External links

Representative Ruth Ann Gaines
''official Iowa General Assembly site'' *
Financial information (state office)
at the National Institute for Money in State Politics 1947 births Date of birth missing (living people) Living people Clarke University alumni University of California, Santa Barbara alumni Democratic Party members of the Iowa House of Representatives Politicians from Des Moines, Iowa Women state legislators in Iowa African-American women in politics African-American state legislators in Iowa 21st-century American politicians 21st-century American women politicians 21st-century African-American women 21st-century African-American politicians 20th-century African-American people 20th-century African-American women {{Iowa-politician-stub