Republican lawmakers re-elected their party’s top leaders in the Iowa House and Senate on November 12 after increasing their already large majorities in both chambers.
With recounts likely in a few races, Republicans are on track to hold a 67 to 33 majority in the Iowa House (a net gain of three seats) and a 35 to 15 majority in the Senate (a net gain of one seat). Those are the largest contingents for the majority party in either chamber for more than 50 years.
House Republicans re-elected Pat Grassley as speaker, Matt Windschitl as majority leader, and John Wills as speaker pro-tem. All three have served in those roles since the previous speaker, Linda Upmeyer, retired in 2019. Henry Stone will return as majority whip, a position he has held since 2023. The caucus has not yet chosen assistant House majority leaders.
Senate Republicans re-elected Jack Whitver as majority leader, the top-ranking position in that chamber. He has led the caucus since Bill Dix resigned in the middle of the 2018 legislative session. A November 12 statement included the first health update on Whitver since Senate Republicans announced in May that he had a brain tumor. According to the news release,
He underwent radiation treatment and began drug therapy treatment since his diagnosis. He is responding well to the treatments and continues to see forward progress. Multiple recent scans this fall have shown a steady and continued reduction in the size of the tumor, many of his symptoms have improved, and optimism abounds about his recovery.
Amy Sinclair will return as Senate president, a position she has held since Jake Chapman lost his 2022 re-election bid.
Senate Republicans needed to find a new president pro-tem, since Brad Zaun lost to Democrat Matt Blake last week. They chose Ken Rozenboom, who has chaired the Senate Education Committee and the appropriations subcommittee on agriculture and natural resources.
Mike Klimesh will serve as the new Senate majority whip. The previous whip, Waylon Brown, resigned from the legislature this summer. Klimesh was an assistant majority leader for the last two years and has been a reliable vote for Republican priorities. However, he did vote against this year’s controversial bill overhauling Area Education Agencies.
The four incoming Senate assistant majority leaders will be Carrie Koelker, Adrian Dickey, Lynn Evans, and Tim Kraayenbrink. Only Koelker held that position during the previous legislature.
Iowa House Democrats re-elected State Representative Jennifer Konfrst as minority leader last week. Assuming a recount doesn’t change the result in Monica Kurth’s race (House district 98), the 33 Democrats will choose the rest of their leadership team in December.
Iowa Senate Democrats need to elect new leadership, since current Minority Leader Pam Jochum is retiring at the end of this year. Two Senate races are in recount territory: Sarah Trone Garriott leads by 24 votes in Senate district 14, and Nate Boulton trails by 44 votes in Senate district 20. After those results are final, Democrats will hold leadership elections.