Iowa Sen. Sarah Trone Garriott to serve as Democratic whip

Iowa Sen. Sarah Trone Garriott will take over from retiring Sen. Amanda Ragan as Democratic whip in the Iowa Senate, Democrats announced Friday.

Trone Garriott of West Des Moines won reelection against former Senate President Jake Chapman, representing Senate District 14. While Democrats lost ground and remain the minority in both chambers, Trone Garriott’s race was a bright spot for the party in the 2022 midterms.

The senator said Friday that Democrats will continue opposing Republican goals on issues like education and social justice.

“Iowa voters did not give Republicans a mandate to sell out the middle class, wreck public schools, and strip away basic rights,” Trone Garriott said in a news release. “Senate Democrats will stand up to Republican overreach and give Iowa families a voice in our government.”

Sen. Zach Wahls will serve a second term as Democratic leader, the Senate Democrats announced. He thanked his party for the reelection, and said Democrats are committed to “defending economic opportunity and fundamental rights” in the state Senate.

“Republican politicians, meanwhile, are offering the same old extreme and unfair agenda rewarding big corporations over middle class families and attacking Iowans’ personal freedom,” Wahls said in the news release.

Sens. Nate Boulton of Des Moines, Pam Jochum of Dubuque and Herman Quirmbach of Ames were reelected as assistant leaders for the upcoming session, joined by Sen. Eric Giddens of Cedar Falls.

In the House, Minority Leader Jennifer Konfrst and Minority Whip Lindsay James were reelected to their positions. The leaders emphasized their commitment to the party’s “people over politics” agenda revealed in September, which includes a focus on legalizing marijuana, protecting abortion access and public school funding, and lowering costs of living.

“While the election results were tough this year, we understand Iowans are fed up with politics and we’re going to stay focused on the issues important to them,” Konfrst said in a news release. “We’ve got 15 new members this year who are strong community leaders bringing new perspectives and experience to the Iowa Legislature. We’re ready to get to work.”