Iowa General Assembly
The Iowa General Assembly (IGA) is the legislative branch for the state of Iowa; it is located in the Iowa State Capitol in Des Moines. Like the United States Congress, the IGA has a Senate (the "upper house") and a House of Representatives (the "lower house"). Currently, there are 50 senators and 100 representatives. Each senator represents about 59,500 people and each representative about 29,200 people. The last redistricting was enacted on June 22, 2001 for the 2002 elections for the 108th US Congress and 80th IGA.
Iowa has one of the most evenly divided state legislatures in the country as of the 2005-2006 term. There are 50 senators, of which 25 are Democrats and 25 are Republicans. The House has 51 Republicans and 49 Democrats.
Leaders in the Senate are co-Majority leaders Mary Lundby, R-Marion, and Mike Gronstal, D-Council Bluffs. Each person takes alternate weeks leading the chamber; no legislation goes to the floor without the approval of both. Senator Lundby was chosen to replace Senator Stew Iverson by the Senate Republican Caucus in the closing days of the 2006 Legislative Session. The Caucus also elected Senator John Putney, R-Gladbrook to serve in the newly created position of Republican Whip.
In the House, the Speaker is Christopher Rants, R-Sioux City, and the Majority Leader is Chuck Gipp, R-Decorah. Rep. Patrick Murphy, D-Dubuque, is the Minority Leader.
The divided Senate means that no bill moves forward without the approval of both parties. All committees have co-Chairmen, one from each party. Subcommittees are evenly divided.
| Affiliation (House) | Members | |
| Republican Party | 51 | |
| Democratic Party | 49 | |
| Total | 100 | |
| Government Majority | 2 | |
| Affiliation (Senate) | Members | |
| Democratic Party | 25 | |
| Republican Party | 25 | |
| Total | 50 | |
| Government Majority | 0 | |