Sen. Jake Chapman, the Adel Republican who represents Perry in Senate District 10, was elected president of the Iowa Senate Friday in a private meeting at the Iowa Capitol.
The election places Chapman in the second-most-powerful position in the legislature’s upper house. Sen. Jack Whitver of Ankeny was reelected as senate majority leader, and Sen. Brad Zaun of Urbandale was chosen for president pro tempore.
Chapman and Zaun will not take up their duties officially until they are approved by a vote of the full Senate, when the 2021 legislative session begins Jan. 11.
“It is an honor to be chosen as president of the senate by my colleagues,” Chapman said in a statement released Friday. “This caucus embraces challenges and charts a bold, conservative path to improving this state and making it the best place in the country to live, work and raise a family.”
Chapman was reelected to a third term in Tuesday’s general election, winning 62% of the votes in a district that comprises most of Dallas County, all of Adair and Guthrie counties and parts of Polk and Cass counties.
In his first two terms, Chapman was a tireless champion of the rights of the unborn and the rights of gun owners. He said Oct. 23 that his number one policy proposal for the next legislative session will be to “restore and ensure the rule of law” in the face of “total chaos” that threatens Iowans’ lives and property.
Chapman is the chief operating officer of Midwest Ambulance Service of Iowa Inc. He resides in Adel with his wife, Jenn, and five children.
