DES MOINES, Iowa (Gray Media Iowa State Capitol Bureau) - Iowa Senate Majority Leader Jack Whitver, who once was considered a future Republican candidate for governor, confirmed on Tuesday that he will not seek re-election and will step down from his leadership position in the legislature. Whitver, 45, has been battling a brain tumor.

Whitver first won a seat in the senate in 2011 and became the Republicans’ majority leader in 2018 after serving two years as senate president.

He led his caucus to supermajority status as Republicans expanded to 34 of the 50 seats (that is now 33 with Democrat Catelin Drey’s victory in a Sioux City area special election).

During his career, Whitver helped Republicans pass a series of tax cuts, made nearly all abortions illegal, shrunk the number of state

See Full Page