DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa Democrats have elected a new leader in the state Senate. State Sen. Janet Petersen of Des Moines was chosen Sunday to be the new Democratic leader of the Iowa Senate.

Petersen said she is honored to win the job. She is in her second term in the Senate after serving six terms in the Iowa House.

Petersen has lived in Des Moines most of her life. In 2008, she co-founded an Iowa nonprofit called Healthy Birth Day that works to prevent stillbirths.