Normally, big changes in the Iowa legislature happen the year after a general election. But there has been much more turnover than usual in the Iowa House since last spring. With two Republicans running for Congress and another resigning from the legislature to take a Trump administration job, a chain reaction leaves ten House committees with a different leader for the 2026 session.

The overall balance of power remains the same: 67 Republicans and 33 Democrats in the chamber. Each party has some new faces in the leadership team, however. All of those details are listed below, along with committee assignments and background on all committee chairs and ranking members. As needed, I’ve noted changes since last year’s session.

Nineteen House members (fourteen Republicans and five Democrats) are serving their first term in the legislature—three more than in 2025, due to special elections that happened last March, April, and December.

The number of women serving in the chamber crept up from 27 at the beginning of 2025 to 29 as of January 2026, since Democrat Angel Ramirez succeeded Sami Scheetz in House district 78 and Republican Wendy Larson was elected to replace Mike Sexton in House district 7. The ratio of 71 men and 29 women is the same as during the 2024 session.

Six African Americans (Democrats Jerome Amos, Jr., Ruth Ann Gaines, Rob Johnson, Mary Madison, and Ross Wilburn, and Republican Eddie Andrews) serve in the legislature’s lower chamber. Gaines chairs the Iowa Legislative Black Caucus.

Republican Mark Cisneros became the first Latino elected to the Iowa legislature in 2020, and Democrat Adam Zabner became the second Latino to serve in the chamber in 2023, and Ramirez the chamber’s first Latina member in 2025.

Republican Henry Stone became the second Asian American ever to serve in the House after the 2020 election. Democrat Megan Srinivas was first elected in 2022. The other representatives are white.

Three House members identify as part of the LGBTQ community: Democrats Elinor Levin and Aime Wichtendahl, and Republican Austin Harris. As for religious diversity, Levin and Zabner are Jewish. Srinivas is Hindu. The chamber has had no Muslim members since Ako Abdul-Samad retired in 2024.

Some non-political trivia: the 100 Iowa House members include two with the surname Meyer (a Democrat and a Republican), two Johnsons (a Democrat and a Republican), and a Thompson and a Thomson (both Republicans).

As for popular first names, there are four men named David (one goes by Dave), three named Thomas or Tom, three Roberts (two Bobs and a Bobby), a Jon and a John, a Josh and a Joshua, a Mike and a Michael, and two men each named Jeff, Dan, Brian, Steven, Chad, Austin, and Mark. There are also two Elizabeths (one goes by Beth) and two women each named Jennifer, Heather, Megan, and Shannon. As recently as 2020, four women named Mary served in the Iowa House, but now there is only one.

Democrat Angel Ramirez will soon be the first Latina to serve in the Iowa legislature, after winning the April 29 special election in House district 78 by a commanding margin.

Ramirez outperformed the partisan lean of the district, defeating Republican Bernie Hayes by 2,742 votes to 721 (79.0 percent to 20.8 percent), according to unofficial results from all precincts. Voters in House district 78 preferred Kamala Harris to Donald Trump by 65.2 percent to 32.7 percent in the 2024 presidential election.

It’s the third special Iowa legislative election of 2025, and Democrats greatly improved on the Harris benchmark in all three races. According to a spreadsheet compiled by “elections nerd” Ethan C7, Democrats have outperformed in most of this year’s special elections around the country, with Ramirez, Iowa Senate district 35 candidate Mike Zimmer, and Iowa House district 100 candidate Nannette Griffin putting up the largest swings compared to the 2024 presidential results in their areas.

The field is set for the April 29 special election in Iowa House district 78. Democrats nominated Angel Ramirez at an April 12 nominating convention. Linn County Republicans chair Bernie Hayes won the GOP nomination at an April 14 convention.

Ramirez won on the first ballot in a four-way Democratic field. She is the co-founder and executive director of Our Future, a nonprofit fellowship for young leaders, and a Youth Peace Project Facilitator with the Kids First Law Center.

If elected, she would be the first Latina to serve in the Iowa legislature. She’s also “a proud first-generation college graduate from Coe College,” according to her campaign website. She told Iowa News Now after the convention, “it’s not the time for the status quo” and Democrats need to stand for “a progressive vision,” to help the working class, health care system, public education, LGBTQ neighbors.