Father and son will serve together at the Statehouse

Scott County voters elected a father/son duo to the Iowa House. Forty-two-year-old James Van Fossen of Davenport has served in the House for the past eight years, and he’ll be joined in January by his 62-year-old dad, also named James, who was elected from a neighboring Davenport district. There will be four Van Fossen working in the House come January. The father and son will be members of the House. The elder Van Fossen is hiring his daughter as a clerk and his granddaughter will be a page. The two James Van Fsosens, who are both Republicans, have a striking resemblance, but the dad has a mustache. The pair will not live together in Des Moines during the weekdays when the legislature is in session. The elder Van Fossen says he likes to go to bed and get up early, and will NOT be living with his son. James Van Fossen, the younger, has gone by the nickname of Jamie, and he’ll use that nickname more often in Des Moines.