Iowa Senate President Pam Jochum endorsed Hillary Clinton for president today in a guest column for the Des Moines Register. This afternoon, she will elaborate on her reasons at a Women for Hillary event in Dubuque.

Jochum joins the list of prominent Iowa supporters of Barack Obama before the 2008 caucuses who are now backing Clinton. An Iowa House Democrat at that time, Jochum headed Obama’s leadership team in Dubuque County. Obama easily won a plurality of delegates in Dubuque and carried all of the neighboring counties too.

More important, Jochum is a hero to many on what you might call “the Democratic wing of the Iowa Democratic Party.” I’m thinking of the 26 percent who voted for Ed Fallon in the 2006 gubernatorial primary, as well as people who have long advocated for campaign finance reform at the state level. Although I think highly of Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal, he’s not the progressive champion Jochum is–not by a long shot. She has helped fight some very tough fights, where powerful interest groups were lined up on the other side. I can’t think of an Iowa state legislator in my lifetime who has reached such a senior leadership position while being as consistently progressive as Jochum.

My impression is that many on the “Democratic wing” of the party have already committed to caucus for Bernie Sanders. Others feel conflicted as I do, drawn to Sanders for his passion and his uncompromising policy agenda, while recognizing Clinton’s strengths as a candidate and what it would mean for this country to elect a woman president. That Jochum is on board with Clinton could carry a lot of weight with undecided Democrats like me.

Before today, eight Democratic state senators and nine state representatives had already endorsed Clinton for the 2016 caucuses. I’ve enclosed the full list after the jump, along with excerpts from Jochum’s Des Moines Register op-ed.

Excerpts from Pam Jochum’s guest column in the October 5 Des Moines Register endorsing Hillary Clinton:

I have watched Hillary get results for decades, even when the odds seemed daunting. As first lady, Hillary fought for health care reform and the fight was tough. But even when she was knocked down, she worked with others to find a way to expand access to health care through  the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP).  In Iowa, we know this program as HAWK-I and it provides health insurance for more than 37,000 children from low-income working families across the state.

Today, programs families depend on – like HAWK-I – are under attack. Effective Jan. 1, the Branstad/Reynolds Administration will put Iowa’s public health insurance system for the frail, the ill and those with disabilities in the hands of out-of-state for-profit companies with known histories of mismanagement and fraud. As a mother and primary caregiver to a daughter with intellectual disabilities, I have grave concerns about what the policies pushed by Republicans at both the state and national level will mean for our country’s most vulnerable if enacted. […]

On a personal note, as a longtime supporter of the advancement of women and girls, I know that electing Hillary to the White House will show the next generation that their potential truly is limitless. By finally shattering that highest, hardest glass ceiling we will show young girls and women across the country that they are all able to reach their God-given potential.

List of Iowa state legislators who had endorsed Clinton for the 2016 caucuses before today:

Sen. Tom Courtney

Sen. Jeff Danielson

Sen. Dick Dearden

Sen. Bill Dotzler

Sen. Bob Dvorsky

Rep. Ruth Ann Gaines

Sen. Wally Horn

Sen. Liz Mathis

Rep. Jo Oldson

Sen. Janet Petersen

Rep. Sally Stutsman

Rep. Phyllis Thede

Rep. Marti Anderson

Rep. Timi Brown-Powers

Rep. Abby Finkenauer

Rep. Vicki Lensing

Rep. Mary Mascher