The Iowa Senate is the

upper house An upper house is one of two Legislative chamber, chambers of a bicameralism, bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the lower house. The house formally designated as the upper house is usually smaller and often has more restricted p ...

of 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 Repre ...

. There are 50 seats in the Iowa Senate, representing 50 single-member districts across the

state of Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

with populations of approximately 60,927 per constituency, . Each Senate district is composed of two House districts. The Senate meets at the Iowa State Capitol in

Des Moines Des Moines is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Iowa, most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is the county seat of Polk County, Iowa, Polk County with parts extending into Warren County, Iowa, Wa ...

. Unlike the

lower house A lower house is the lower chamber of a bicameral legislature, where the other chamber is the upper house. Although styled as "below" the upper house, in many legislatures worldwide, the lower house has come to wield more power or otherwise e ...

, 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 ...

, senators serve four-year terms, with no

term limits A term limit is a legal restriction on the number of Term of office, terms a Incumbent, person may serve in a particular elected office. When term limits are found in Presidential system, presidential and Semi-presidential republic, semi-president ...

. Terms are staggered so that half the Senate is up for reelection every two years.

Leadership

The

President of the Senate President of the Senate is a title often given to the presiding officer of a senate. It corresponds to the Speaker (politics), speaker in some other assemblies. The senate president often ranks high in a jurisdiction's Order of succession, succes ...

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

, 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 A majority is more than half of a total; however, the term is commonly used with other meanings, as explained in the "#Related terms, Related terms" section below. It is a subset of a Set (mathematics), set consisting of more than half of the se ...

and Minority leaders, are elected by their respective party caucuses to head their parties in the chamber. The

is Republican Amy Sinclair of the 12th District. The Majority Leader is Republican Jack Whitver of the 23rd District. The Minority Leader is Democrat Pam Jochum of the 36th District.

Committee leadership

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

Current composition

Past notable members

* Samuel J. Kirkwood, two-time

governor of Iowa A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the type of political region or polity, a ''governor'' ma ...

(1860–1864, 1876–1877); two-time U.S. senator (1866–1867, 1877–1881); U.S. Secretary of the Interior (1881–1882) * George G. Wright, U.S. senator 1871–1877 * Tom Vilsack, incumbent

United States Secretary of Agriculture The United States secretary of agriculture is the head of the United States Department of Agriculture. The position carries similar responsibilities to those of agriculture ministers in other governments The department includes several organi ...

2009–2017 and 2021–2025, former governor of Iowa 1999–2007, and briefly Democratic candidate for

president of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal government of t ...

in 2008 *

George A. Wilson George Allison Wilson (April 1, 1884 – September 8, 1953) was an American politician and lawyer. He was a United States Senate, United States Senator and List of Governors of Iowa, 28th Governor of Iowa. Personal background Born on a farm ne ...

, governor of Iowa 1939–1943 * Patty Judge, former lieutenant governor of Iowa (2007–2011), former Iowa Secretary of Agriculture (1999–2007) *

Steve King Steven Arnold King (born May 28, 1949) is an American former politician and businessman who served as a U.S. representative from Iowa from 2003 to 2021. A member of the Republican Party, he represented Iowa's 5th congressional district un ...

, former U.S. representative for

Iowa's 4th congressional district Iowa's 4th congressional district is a List of United States congressional districts, congressional district in the U.S. state of Iowa that covers the western border of the state, including Sioux City, Iowa, Sioux City and Council Bluffs, Iowa, C ...

(2003–2021) *

Joni Ernst Joni Kay Ernst (née Culver; born July 1, 1970) is an American politician and retired military officer serving since 2015 as the Seniority in the United States Senate, junior United States Senate, United States senator from Iowa. A member of the ...

, incumbent U.S. senator since 2015 *

Kim Reynolds Kimberly Kay Reynolds (née Strawn, August 4, 1959) is an American politician from Iowa. A Republican, Reynolds has served since 2017 as the 43rd governor of Iowa. She is the first female governor in Iowa history. Reynolds was elected Clarke ...

, incumbent governor of Iowa since 2017, former lieutenant governor of Iowa (2011–2017) *

Randy Feenstra Randall Lee Feenstra (born January 14, 1969) is an American politician and businessman serving as the U.S. representative for Iowa's 4th congressional district. The district covers the state's western border and its northwestern quadrant, inclu ...

, incumbent U.S. representative for

since 2021 *

Mariannette Miller-Meeks Mariannette Jane Miller-Meeks (born September 6, 1955) is an American physician and politician who has served as a U.S. representative from Iowa since 2021. A member of the Republican Party, she represents the state's 1st congressional distric ...

, U.S. representative for

Iowa's 2nd congressional district Iowa's 2nd congressional district is a List of United States congressional districts, congressional district in the U.S. state of Iowa that covers most of its northeastern part. It includes Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Cedar Rapids, Dubuque, Iowa, Dubuque ...

since 2021 and Republican nominee for

in 2008, 2010, and 2014

Past composition of the Senate

References

External links

Iowa Legislature
''official government website'' *
Iowa Senate DemocratsIowa Senate RepublicansCurrent Iowa Senators
{{Authority control 1846 establishments in Iowa State upper houses in the United States *