Campaign Almanac: Pam Jochum, leader of Iowa Senate Democrats, will not seek re-election

DES MOINES — Pam Jochum, the leader of the minority-party Democrats in the Iowa Senate, announced Friday she will not seek re-election in 2024.

Jochum, 69, has represented Dubuque in the Iowa Legislature since 1993. She served eight two-year terms in the Iowa House before being elected to the Iowa Senate in 2008. In 2012, she became the first female Democrat to serve as Iowa Senate president.

Jochum was chosen by her fellow Senate Democrats to lead the group last year, after the group voted to make a change from the previous leader, Sen. Zach Wahls, D-Coralville.

Jochum said she will remain the Senate Democratic leader during the 2024 session of the Iowa Legislature, which began this week, and will guide Senate Democrats through the 2024 elections.

Presumably, Senate Democrats will elect a new leader after the November general elections.

In a statement, Jochum thanked the people of Dubuque for electing her to the Iowa Legislature, calling her time there an “honor and privilege.”

“I am excited to pass the torch to the next generation of leaders who will champion a brighter future for Iowa. Opting not to seek re-election to Senate District 36, I am creating space for fresh perspectives to guide our state forward,” Jochum said in the statement.

In her statement, Jochum highlighted what she believes are some of her legislative accomplishments. Among them is Iowa’s version of Medicaid expansion, which Jochum helped negotiate in 2013 while the Iowa Legislature was under divided party control.

Iowa Youth Straw Poll

Former President Donald Trump is popular among Iowa’s youth as well, according to early returns from the Iowa Secretary of State’s latest informal Iowa Youth Straw Poll.

As of noon Friday, with 41 schools reporting, Trump was the runaway leader in the Iowa Youth Straw Poll, with 58.1 percent of the votes cast. Former U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley was a distant second at 17.8 percent, and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis was third at 9.5 percent.

Schools were encouraged to report results by the end of the day Friday, but those results are not the final tally. More than 20,000 students across the state are expected to participate, according to the Secretary of State’s office.

The Iowa Youth Straw Poll also is open to Democratic candidate selections, and President Joe Biden thus far is in third place. As of Friday, author Marianne Williamson was at 38.5 percent, former Congressman Dean Philips was second at 33 percent, and Biden was at 29.3 percent.

“It is exciting to see so many students participate in this year’s Iowa Youth Straw Poll,” Pate said in a news release. “This is a great opportunity for students to experience firsthand the caucus and voting experience, and we look forward to seeing these students register to vote and participating in Iowa’s elections process once they are eligible.”