KDSN RADIO News
Vacancy in Iowa House after lawmaker appointed to county role
A Democrat who has represented Cedar Rapids in the Iowa House since 2023 has been appointed to fill a vacancy on the Linn County Board of Supervisors.
Democrat Sami Scheetz, an organizer with the Teamsters union, is the first Arab American elected to serve in the Iowa legislature. Scheetz told reporters in Cedar Rapids he has resigned from the House to take on his new role as a member of the Linn County Board of Supervisors.
The governor has five days to set the date for a special election in Cedar Rapids for the now-vacant House seat Scheetz had held. There have already been two special elections this year to fill vacancies in the Iowa legislature. One was for a state senate seat held by Chris Cournoyer, who resigned just before Governor Reynolds appointed her lieutenant governor. The other happened after a southeast Iowa lawmaker died unexpectedly, and that House seat was just filled last week.
While Scheetz has been appointed to the board of supervisors, there could be a special election for the board seat if voters in Linn County gather the required number of petition signatures in the next two weeks.
Scheetz is among 17 who applied to fill the vacancy created when 44-year-old Ben Rogers resigned from the Linn County board to take a position with UnityPoint Health.
