The party leaders who control the Iowa House and Senate will remain the same in the new session in January. Republicans control the Iowa House and have voted to keep Representative Kraig Paulsen of Hiawatha in the role of the Speaker of the House. Paulsen will be serving his seventh term. He is an attorney for a Cedar Rapids trucking company.

Representative Linda Upmeyer of Clear Lake was re-elected as the Republican House Majority Leader. She is a nurse who will also will be serving her seventh term. Democrats held onto their slim 26-24 margin in last week’s election to maintain control of the Iowa Senate. Senator Mike Gronstal of Council Bluffs will continue as majority leader and Pam Jochum of Dubuque was re-elected Senate President.

Gronstal has been the Senate minority or majority leader since 2001, while Jochum will be in her second term as Senate president. The 2015 Legislature will convene in Des Moines on January 12th.

(Radio Iowa)