Iowa House of Representatives

The **Iowa House of Representatives** is the lower house of the Iowa General Assembly, Iowa's legislature.  There are 100 people in the House, one for each of 100 districts in Iowa.  Each district has about 29,750 people in it.  The House of Representatives meets at the Iowa State Captiol in Des Moines.

Unlike the Iowa Senate, House members - called "representatives" - have terms of two years.  The whole House is eleced in even-numbered years.  There are no term limits for the House.

## Leadership

The Speaker of the House is the leader of the House and serves as its chair.  The Speaker also handles legislation and puts representatives on committees.  The Speaker is chosen by the majority party and then elected by the entire House.  Other House leaders, such as the majority and minority leaders, are elected by their party's members.

### Leaders

|Position|Name|Party|District|
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
|Speaker of the House|Kraig Paulsen|Republican|35|
|Majority Leader|Linda Upmeyer|Republican|12|
|Minority Leader|Kevin M. McCarthy|Democrat|67|

## Current composition

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### Past members

- William S. Beardsley Governor of Iowa from 1949 to 1954
- William W. Belknap, U.S. Army major general and U.S. Secretary of War from 1869 until impeached in 1876.
- Terry Branstad, Governor of Iowa from 1983 to 1999, 2011 to present
- Robert D. Fulton, Governor of Iowa for 16 days in 1969
- Chuck Grassley, U.S. Senator, 1981 to present
- Frank Merriam, Governor of California from 1934 to 1939
- William M. Stone, Civil War prisoner of war and Governor of Iowa from 1864 to 1868.
- James Wilson, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture from 1897 to 1913.

## Related pages

- Iowa Senate

## Other websites

- Iowa Legislature _official government website_
- State House of Iowa at Project Vote Smart
- Iowa House Democrats
- Iowa House Republicans

## Infobox (legislature)

- **name**: Iowa House of Representatives
- **legislature**: Iowa General Assembly
- **coa pic**: Iowa-StateSeal.svg
- **session room**: Iowa House of Reps.JPG
- **house type**: Lower house
- **term limits**: None
- **new session**: January 10, 2011
- **leader1 type**: Speaker of the Iowa House of Representatives, Speaker of the House
- **leader1**: Kraig Paulsen
- **party1**: (Republican Party of Iowa, R)
- **election1**: January 10, 2011
- **leader2 type**: Speaker pro tempore
- **leader2**: Jeff Kaufmann
- **party2**: (Republican Party of Iowa, R)
- **election2**: January 10, 2011
- **leader3 type**: Majority Leader
- **leader3**: Linda Upmeyer
- **party3**: (Republican Party of Iowa, R)
- **election3**: January 10, 2011
- **leader4 type**: Minority Leader
- **leader4**: Kevin McCarthy (Iowa politician), Kevin McCarthy
- **party4**: (Iowa Democratic Party, D)
- **election4**: January 10, 2011
- **members**: 100
- **political groups1**: Republican Party of Iowa, Republican Party (60)
Iowa Democratic Party, Democratic Party (40)
- **term length**: 2 years
- **authority**: Legislative Department, Section 3, Iowa Constitution
- **salary**: $25,000/year + per diem
- **last election1**: November 2, 2010
(100 seats)
- **next election1**: November 2, 2012
(100 seats)
- **redistricting**: Legislative Service Agency makes plan
Iowa General Assembly passes plan
- **meeting place**: House of Representatives Chamber
Iowa State Capitol
Des Moines, Iowa, Des Moines, Iowa
- **website**: [http://www.legis.iowa.gov/ Iowa General Assembly]