(Des Moines, IA) Today Iowa House Republicans elected the leadership team that will carry them into the eighty-sixth General Assembly.
Rep. Kraig Paulsen (R-Hiawatha) was selected to continue in the role of the Speaker of the House. Paulsen will be serving his seventh term. He is an attorney for CRST International, Inc. in Cedar Rapids. A former member of the United States Air Force, Paulsen had previously served as the Minority Whip, the House Republican Leader and Speaker for four years.
Rep. Linda Upmeyer (R-Clear Lake) was re-elected as the House Majority Leader. Upmeyer will be serving her seventh term in the House and is a nurse practitioner. Upmeyer previously served as the House Minority Whip for two years and the Majority Leader for four years.
Rep. Matt Windschitl (R-Missouri Valley) was selected to once again serve as the Speaker Pro Tem. Windschitl will be serving his fifth term in the House. He has previously served as a House Assistant Leader for five years and was elected as the Speaker Pro Tem in April to replace outgoing Rep. Steve Olson. He is a veteran of the U.S. Marines, a trained gunsmith and works full time for the Union Pacific Railroad.
Rep. Chris Hagenow (R-Windsor Heights) was elected as the House Majority Whip. Hagenow will be serving his fourth term in the Iowa House. He has previously served as the Chairman of the House Oversight committee and was first elected Majority Whip in 2012. He is an attorney and founding partner of the Des Moines law firm, Whitaker, Hagenow & Gustoff, LLP.
Majority Assistant Leaders are: Reps. Lee Hein (R-Monticello), Walt Rogers (R-Cedar Falls), Jarad Klein (R-Keota), and Joel Fry (R-Osceola).
“House Republicans are ready to get to work on behalf of Iowa families and taxpayers. We’ll use a common sense approach to get things done while continuing to find opportunities to make Iowans’ family life more affordable, upward mobility more likely and employment easier to find,” said Speaker Paulsen.
The Legislature convenes on January 12, 2015.