Jack Whitver. (RI file Photo)
Polk County Auditor Jamie Fitzgerald has ruled in favor of the Iowa Senate Majority Leader’s residency following a challenge.
Grimes resident Ann Gale filed the challenge to Republican Jack Whitver’s use of a Grimes address for a newly-drawn Senate district where he ran and won in the November election. She argued that Whitver still lists his Ankeny address for his businesses and utility bills for his Grimes condo showed little water was used there this fall.
Fitzgerald says the evidence submitted prior to Whitver’s September 2022 move to Grimes is insufficient to overcome the presumption that Whitver’s declared residency is valid.
Whitver’s spokesman issued a statement saying, “Senator Whitver appreciates his decision to set partisanship aside and follow the law. Now, two different Democrat-controlled hearings have determined Senator Whitver’s residency and voter registration are legal.”