Iowa Legislature: GOP captures House, gains in Senate

DES MOINES – Republicans seized control of the Iowa House and made substantial gains in the Senate in Tuesday's election.

Though final results were not available at press time last night, Republicans gained at least 10 seats in the House to give them around 55 seats in the 100-seat chanber.

In the Senate, the GOP gained at least five seats but needed to win eight seats to take control of the chamber.

Going into Tuesday's election, Democrats controlled the House by a 56-44 margin and the Senate by a 32-18 margin.

“Iowans decided they want Republicans to control the House, and Republicans are ready to go to work,” said Rep. Kraig Paulsen, R-Hiawatha, the House minority leader.

Paulsen said the GOP will concentrate on the issues its candidates campaigned on - creating jobs and controlling the state budget.

“We are concerned about property tax increases, and we will be working on that,” he said.

Sen. Paul McKinley, R-Chariton, the Senate minority leader, said he is ecstatic over his party's gain of at least five seats in the Senate.

It had been 12 years since Republicans made gains in the state Senate,  he said.

With Republicans controlling the House and the governor's office, Republicans in the Senate will concentrate on establishing a climate conducive to jobs creation, he said.

“We need to get spending under control and look at ways to relive burdensome property taxes,” McKinley said.

Democrats took control of both chambers and the governor's office in 2006, a feat they had last accomplished in 1965 when Harold Hughes was governor.

Senate Majority Leader Michael Gronstal, D-Council Bluffs, had predicted that his party would maintain control of the Senate, just as Paulsen had predicted his party would take control of the House.

Paulsen had said the Republicans' edge in candidate recruiting - the GOP fielded candidates in 92 of the 100 House districts, while Democrats filled only 75 of those slots - gave them an advantage.

In effect 25 House Republicans ran without a Democrat opponent, while only eight Democrats enjoyed an absence of Republican opposition.

One issue lawmakers will face next year is the drawing of new legislative and congressional district lines to reflect the 2010 census. Iowa is expected to lose one of its five congressional districts because the state is growing more slowly than other parts of the country.