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Jennifer Konfrst

Jennifer Konfrst
Minority Leader of the Iowa House of Representatives
Incumbent
Assumed office
June 14, 2021
Preceded byTodd Prichard
Member of the Iowa House of Representatives
from the 32nd district
Incumbent
Assumed office
January 14, 2019
Preceded byChris Hagenow
Personal details
Born (1973-12-24) December 24, 1973 (age 51)
Macomb, Illinois, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
SpouseLee
Children2
EducationDrake University (BA, MPA)

Jennifer Glover Konfrst (born December 24, 1973) is an American politician in the state of Iowa. A Democrat, she has been a member of the Iowa House of Representatives representing the 32nd district since 2019. She is the House minority leader, a position that she has held since 2021.

Early life

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Konfrst was born on December 24, 1973, in Macomb, Illinois.[1] She grew up in Des Moines, Iowa, Fort Dodge, Iowa, and Webster, Florida.[2] She graduated with a bachelors of arts degree in journalism and mass communications and a masters of public administration from Drake University.[3] She worked for Iowa PBS for twelve years.[4][5] She is an associate professor of journalism and strategic political communication at Drake University.[1][6][7] She and her husband, Lee, have two children.[4]

Political career

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She first ran to represent the 43rd district in the Iowa House of Representatives in 2016, but lost to Republican incumbent Chris Hagenow.[8][9] In 2018, Hagenow moved to the 19th district.[10] Konfrst ran again for the newly-open seat and won. She won re-election in 2020.[1][11] Konfrst sits on the administration and rules committee, the judiciary committee, the local government committee, the state government committee and the transportation committee.[1] She was the assistant minority leader in 2019 and 2020 and the minority whip in 2021. When Todd Prichard stepped down as the House minority leader in 2021, Konfrst was elected on June 14, 2021 as the new House minority leader. She is the first woman to hold this position in Iowa.[12][13]

In 2022 she ran for re-election and won in the 32nd district against Republican Mark Brown.[6]

Electoral record

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2016 general election: Iowa House of Representatives, District 43[8]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Chris Hagenow 8,809 51.57%
Democratic Jennifer Konfrst 8,273 48.43%
2018 general election: Iowa House of Representatives, District 43[8]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Jennifer Konfrst 8,852 56.7%
Republican Michael Boal 6,431 41.2%
Libertarian Chad Brewbaker 318 2.0%
Other/Write-in 11 0.1%

References

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  1. ^ a b c d "Representative Jennifer Konfrst". The Iowa Legislature. Retrieved 23 June 2020.
  2. ^ "What the candidates for Clive's House District 32 seat say about the issues". The Des Moines Register. Retrieved 2022-10-30.
  3. ^ "Jennifer Konfrst's Biography". Vote Smart. Retrieved 23 June 2020.
  4. ^ a b "Iowa House Democrats elect Konfrst as leader". www.thegazette.com. Retrieved 2022-10-30.
  5. ^ "JENNIFER KONFRST NAMED PBS COMMUNICATIONS PROFESSIONAL OF THE YEAR". About PBS - Main. Retrieved 2022-10-30.
  6. ^ a b Gruber-Miller, Stephen. "Iowa House Democratic leader Jennifer Konfrst running for reelection". The Des Moines Register. Retrieved 2022-10-30.
  7. ^ "Jennifer Glover Konfrst | Drake University". www.drake.edu. Retrieved 2022-10-30.
  8. ^ a b c "Jennifer Konfrst". Ballotpedia. Retrieved 23 June 2020.
  9. ^ "Iowa House District 43: Hagenow defeats challenger Konfrst". Des Moines Register. 8 November 2016. Retrieved 23 June 2020.
  10. ^ "Iowa election 2018: Three look to replace Watts in House District 19". Des Moines Register. 29 October 2018. Retrieved 23 June 2020.
  11. ^ Ryan, Mackenzie. "Democrat Jennifer Konfrst wins race to represent parts of Windsor Heights, Clive and West Des Moines". The Des Moines Register. Retrieved 2022-10-30.
  12. ^ Akin, Katie (2021-06-03). "Iowa Rep. Jennifer Konfrst seeking House minority leader position". Iowa Capital Dispatch. Retrieved 2022-10-30.
  13. ^ Akin, Katie (2021-06-15). "Rep. Jennifer Konfrst elected as Iowa House minority leader". Iowa Capital Dispatch. Retrieved 2022-10-30.
[edit]
Iowa House of Representatives
Preceded by Minority Leader
2021–present 		Incumbent
Preceded by 32nd District
2023 – present 		Succeeded by
Preceded by 43rd District
2019 – 2023 		Succeeded by


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