Jennifer Konfrst.
House Democrats have elected a new leader and she is the first woman to serve in the post.
The 41 Democrats who serve in the Iowa House met tonight and elected Representative Jennifer Konfrst of Windsor Heights as House Minority Leader.
Konfrst replaces Representative Todd Prichard of Charles City, who announced on June 2nd that he was stepping down after serving in the position for three legislative sessions.
Konfrst was first elected to the House in 2018, reelected in 2020 and she was the second-ranking Democrat in the Iowa House this past session. Konfrst has been a full time professor at Drake University since 2013, teaching courses in political communication and public relations.
Konfrst released a written statement tonight and will hold an online news conference Tuesday morning. The House Democratic Caucus is majority female and, with Konfrst’s election, all four partisan Caucus groups in the Iowa legislature will have been led by a woman.
Former Sate Representative Linda Upmeyer of Clear Lake was first elected by her fellow House Republicans as House Majority Leader, then she became House Speaker in 2015, a position she held for four years. Janet Petersen of Des Moines is a former Senate Democratic Leader for the 2017 through 2020 legislative sessions. The late Mary Lundby of Cedar Rapids was elected leader of Senate Republicans in 2006.