View source for Iowa Senate

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{{Infobox legislature
 | name          = Iowa Senate
 | legislature   = [[Iowa General Assembly]]
 | coa_pic       = Iowa-StateSeal.svg
 | session_room  = Iowa Senate.JPG
 | house_type    = Upper house
 | term_limits   = None
 | new_session   = January 10, 2011
 | leader1_type  = [[President of the Senate]]
 | leader1       = [[Jack Kibbie]]
 | party1        = ([[Iowa Democratic Party|D]])
 | election1     = January 8, 2007
 | leader2_type  = President pro Tempore
 | leader2       = [[Jeff Danielson]]
 | party2        = ([[Iowa Democratic Party|D]])
 | election2     = January 8, 2007
 | leader3_type  = Majority Leader
 | leader3       = [[Michael Gronstal]]
 | party3        = ([[Iowa Democratic Party|D]])
 | election3     = January 8, 2007
 | leader4_type  = Minority Leader
 | leader4       = [[Jerry Behn]]
 | party4        = ([[Republican Party of Iowa|R]])
 | election4     = November 10, 2011
 | members       = 50
 | term_length = 4 years
 | authority = Legislative Department, Section 3, [[Iowa Constitution]]
 | salary = $25,000/year + per diem
 | political_groups1      = [[Iowa Democratic Party|Democratic Party]] (26) <br> [[Republican Party of Iowa|Republican Party]] (23)
 | last_election1 = November 2, 2010<br>(25 seats)
 | next_election2 = November 6, 2012<br>(25 seats)
 | redistricting = Legislative Service Agency makes plan <br />
 Iowa General Assembly passes plan 
 | meeting_place = State Senate Chamber<br>[[Iowa State Capitol]]<br>[[Des Moines, Iowa|Des Moines]], [[Iowa]]
 | website       = [http://www.legis.iowa.gov/ 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 [[electoral districts|districts]] in [[Iowa]].  Each district has about 59,500 people in it.  Each Senate district is [[wikt:composed|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 House|Speaker]] of the Iowa House, the Senate President does not put representatives on [[committees]].<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.legis.state.ia.us/Pubinfo/BranchesGov.html | title=The Three Branches of Government | publisher=Iowa General Assembly | accessdate=2008-03-10 | archive-date=2005-11-10 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051110234414/http://www2.legis.state.ia.us/Pubinfo/BranchesGov.html | url-status=dead }}</ref>   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 leader|majority]] and [[minority leader]]s, are elected by their party's members.

==Composition==
[[File:Iowa State Senate Districts, 2012-2022.svg|300px|right|thumb|Iowa Senate districts for 2012-2022]]
{|class=wikitable style="text-align:center"
|-valign=bottom
!rowspan=3|Affiliation
!colspan=3|Party <div style="font-size:80%">(shading indicates majority caucus)</div>
!rowspan=3|Total
!
|-style="height:5px"
| style="background-color:{{party color|Democratic Party (United States)}}" |
| style="background-color:{{party color|Republican Party (United States)}}" |
| style="background-color:{{party color|Independent Party (United States)}}" |
|style="background: black"|
|-
![[Iowa Democratic Party|Democratic]]
![[Republican Party of Iowa|Republican]]
![[Independent politician|Independent]]
!''Vacant''
|-
!nowrap style="font-size:80%"|End 2012
|{{party shading/Democratic}}| 26
|23
|0
! 49
|1
|-
|colspan=5|
|-
!nowrap style="font-size:80%"|Begin 2013
|{{party shading/Democratic}} rowspan=2|26
|rowspan=2|24
|rowspan=2|0
!rowspan=2| 50
|rowspan=2|0
|-
!nowrap style="font-size:80%"|End of 2014 session
|-
|colspan=5|
|-
!nowrap style="font-size:80%"|Begin 2015
|{{party shading/Democratic}} rowspan=2|26
|24
|0
!rowspan=2|50
|rowspan=2|0
|-
!nowrap style="font-size:80%"|End 2016 session<ref name="johnsonnoparty">[[David Johnson (Iowa politician)|David Johnson]] (District 1) [[Party switching in the United States|switched parties]] from Republican to "No Party" on June 7, 2016. [http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/politics/2016/06/07/iowa-gop-lawmaker-dumps-party-protest-trump/85557768/]</ref>
|23
|1
|-
|colspan=5|
|-
!nowrap style="font-size:80%"|Begin 2017
|rowspan=2|20
|rowspan=2 {{party shading/Republican}}|29
|rowspan=2|1
!50
|0
|-
!nowrap style="font-size:80%"|End 2018
!50
|0
|-
|colspan=5|
|-
!nowrap style="font-size:80%"|Begin 2019
|18
|{{party shading/Republican}}|32
|0
!50
|0
|-
!Latest voting share
!{{percentage|18|50|0}}
!{{party shading/Republican}}|{{percentage|32|50|0}}
!{{percentage|0|50|0}}
!colspan=2|
|}

===Past notable members===
* [[Steve King]], [[U.S. House of Representatives|U.S. House Representative]], 2003 to present.
* [[Samuel J. Kirkwood]], two time [[Governor of Iowa]] (1860&ndash;1864), (1876&ndash;1877); two time [[United States Senate|U.S. Senator]] (1866&ndash;1867), (1877&ndash;1881); [[U.S. Secretary of the Interior]] (1881&ndash;1882).
* [[Tom Vilsack]], [[Governor of Iowa]] from 1999 to 2007, [[United States Democratic Party|Democratic]] candidate for the [[President of the United States]] in 2006, and current [[United States|U.S.]] [[Secretary of Agriculture]].
* [[George A. Wilson]], [[Governor of Iowa]] from 1939 to 1943.
* [[George G. Wright]], [[United States Senate|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]]

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

==Other websites==
*[http://www.legis.iowa.gov/ Iowa Legislature] ''official government website''
*{{Ballotpedia|Iowa_State_Senate}}
*[http://www.vote-smart.org/official_state_legislator.php?type=office&state_id=IA&criteria=upper State Senate of Iowa] at [[Project Vote Smart]]
*[http://www.senate.iowa.gov/democrats/ Iowa Senate Democrats]
*[http://www.iowasenaterepublicans.com/ Iowa Senate Republicans]
*[https://www.legis.iowa.gov/Legislators/senate.aspx Current Iowa Senators] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130414125004/https://www.legis.iowa.gov/Legislators/senate.aspx |date=2013-04-14 }}

{{United States legislatures}}
[[Category:Government of Iowa]]
[[Category:State upper houses in the United States]]