Iowa Senate

41.591°N 93.604°W / 41.591; -93.604

Iowa Senate
Iowa General Assembly
Type
Type	Upper house
Term limits	None
History
New session started	January 10, 2011
Leadership
President of the Senate	Jack Kibbie (D) since January 8, 2007
President pro Tempore	Jeff Danielson (D) since January 8, 2007
Majority Leader	Michael Gronstal (D) since January 8, 2007
Minority Leader	Jerry Behn (R) since November 10, 2011
Structure
Seats	50
Political groups	Democratic Party (26) Republican Party (23)
Length of term	4 years
Authority	Legislative Department, Section 3, Iowa Constitution
Salary	$25,000/year + per diem
Elections
Last election	November 2, 2010 (25 seats)
Next election	November 6, 2012 (25 seats)
Redistricting	Legislative Service Agency makes plan Iowa General Assembly passes plan
Meeting place
State Senate Chamber Iowa State Capitol Des Moines, Iowa
Website
Iowa General Assembly

The Iowa Senate is the upper house of the Iowa General Assembly, Iowa's legislature. There are 50 people in the Senate, one for each of 50 districts in Iowa. Each district has about 59,500 people in it. Each Senate district is composed of two House districts. The Senate meets at the Iowa State Capitol in Des Moines.

Unlike the Iowa House of Representatives, Senate members - called "senators"—have terms of four years. Half of the Senate is elected every two years, in even-numbered years. There are no term limits for the Senate.

Leadership

The President of the Senate is the leader of the Senate and serves as its chair. The Senate President also sends legislation to committees. Unlike the Speaker of the Iowa House, the Senate President does not put representatives on committees.^[1] The Lieutenant Governor of Iowa was the President of the Senate until 1991, when a constitutional amendment separated the jobs. Other Senate leaders, such as the majority and minority leaders, are elected by their party's members.

Composition

Iowa Senate districts for 2012-2022

Affiliation	Party (shading indicates majority caucus)			Total
	Democratic	Republican	Independent		Vacant
End 2012	26	23	0	49	1
Begin 2013	26	24	0	50	0
End of 2014 session
Begin 2015	26	24	0	50	0
End 2016 session[2]		23	1
Begin 2017	20	29	1	50	0
End 2018				50	0
Begin 2019	18	32	0	50	0
Latest voting share	36%	64%	0%

Past notable members

• Steve King, U.S. House Representative, 2003 to present.
• Samuel J. Kirkwood, two time Governor of Iowa (1860–1864), (1876–1877); two time U.S. Senator (1866–1867), (1877–1881); U.S. Secretary of the Interior (1881–1882).
• Tom Vilsack, Governor of Iowa from 1999 to 2007, Democratic candidate for the President of the United States in 2006, and current U.S. Secretary of Agriculture.
• George A. Wilson, Governor of Iowa from 1939 to 1943.
• George G. Wright, U.S. Senator from 1871 to 1877.
• Patty Judge, Iowa Secretary of Agriculture from 1999 to 2007, Lieutenant Governor of Iowa from 2007 to 2011

Related pages

• Iowa House of Representatives