Anesa Kajtazovic (born August 30, 1986) is a Bosnian-American politician who was a member of 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 ...

, representing the 61st District from 2011 to 2015. Kajtazovic was an unsuccessful candidate for

Iowa's 1st congressional district Iowa's 1st congressional district is a List of United States congressional districts, congressional district in the U.S. state of Iowa that covers its southeastern part, bordering the states of Illinois and Missouri, and the Mississippi River. ...

in an open seat primary in June 2014. First elected at age 23, Kajtazovic is the youngest woman ever elected to the Iowa legislature, and the first

Bosnian American Bosnian Americans are Americans whose ancestry can be traced to Bosnia and Herzegovina. The vast majority of Bosnian Americans immigrated to the United States during and after the Bosnian War which lasted from 1992–95. Nevertheless, many Bosni ...

elected to any public office in the United States.

Biography

Kajtazovic was born in

Bihać Bihać is a city and the administrative centre of Una-Sana Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is situated on the banks of river Una (Sava), Una in northwestern Bosnia and Herzegovina, in th ...

to Bosnian parents from

Velika Kladuša Velika Kladuša ( sr-Cyrl, Велика Кладуша, ; literal translation, lit. "Great Kladuša") is a town in the Una-Sana Canton, Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is situated in the far northwest of Bosnia, located on the border with Croatia. As o ...

and relocated to the United States in 1997 as a refugee of the

Bosnian War The Bosnian War ( / Рат у Босни и Херцеговини) was an international armed conflict that took place in Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosnia and Herzegovina between 1992 and 1995. Following several earlier violent incid ...

. Kajtazovic graduated from Waterloo West High School in 2004 and the

University of Northern Iowa The University of Northern Iowa (UNI) is a public university in Cedar Falls, Iowa, United States. UNI offers more than 90 majors across five colleges. The fall 2024 total enrollment was 9,283 students. The university was initially founded in 1 ...

in 2007 with double major in three years, with

Bachelor of Business Administration A Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) is an undergraduate degree in business administration awarded by colleges and universities after completion of four years and typically 120 credits of undergraduate study in the fundamentals of busine ...

degree and a Bachelor of Public Administration degree. In the Iowa House of Representatives, she served on the Commerce, Appropriations, Veteran Affairs, Local Government, State Government, Ways and Means and the Economic Development Appropriations subcommittees.

Electoral history

Kajtazovic announced her candidacy in Iowa House of Representatives District 21 in March 2010 as a primary challenge to Kerry Burt, the Democratic incumbent. Burt withdrew from the race in the face of criminal charges, but remained on the ballot as the official withdrawal deadline had passed. Kajtazovic won the June primary with 91% of the vote. In the November 2010 general election, Kajtazovic won with 59%, defeating Republican opponent John Rooff, a former Waterloo mayor.sos.state.ia.us
In 2012, Kajtazovic was re-elected to the Iowa House of Representatives District 61 (renumbered in redistricting) defeating Republican Lyn Tackett. In August 2013, at the age of 26, Kajtazovic announced her candidacy for Iowa's 1st Congressional District. The seat was open as incumbent Democrat Bruce Braley was instead running for an open U.S. Senate seat. Kajtazovic finished fourth of five Democratic candidates in the June 2014 Democratic primary, but carried her home county, Black Hawk. Because of the congressional campaign, Kajtazovic did not seek re-election to the Iowa House, and was replaced by Democrat Timi Brown-Powers in January 2015.

References

External links

Kajtazovic on Project Vote Smart

Kajtazovic's Capitol Web Address

Kajtazovic's Website for Congressional Exploratory Campaign

Anesa Kajtazovic
on

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kajtazovic, Anesa 1986 births American people of Bosniak descent American people of Yugoslav descent Bosniaks of Bosnia and Herzegovina Living people Democratic Party members of the Iowa House of Representatives Politicians from Bihać Politicians from Waterloo, Iowa University of Northern Iowa alumni Women state legislators in Iowa Bosnia and Herzegovina emigrants to the United States 21st-century American women politicians 21st-century members of the Iowa General Assembly