Iowa

Iowa is the 29th state of the United States, having joined the Union on December 28, 1846. The official name of the state is the "State of Iowa", and the U.S. Post Office abbreviation for the state is IA.

Law and government

The state capital is Des Moines. The current Governor is Tom Vilsack (Democrat) and the two U.S. Senators:

Related Topics:
Capital - Des Moines - Tom Vilsack

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• Chuck Grassley (R)
• Tom Harkin (D)

The five U.S. Congressmen:

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• Jim Leach (R)
• Jim Nussle (R)
• Steve King (R)
• Tom Latham (R)
• Leonard Boswell (D)

The Code of Iowa contains the statutory laws of the State of Iowa. The Iowa Legislative Service Bureau is a non-partisan governmental agency that is responsible for organizing, updating and publishing the Iowa Code. The Iowa Code is republished in full in odd years (i.e., 1999, 2001, 2003, etc..) and is supplemented in even years.

Related Topics:
Statutory law - Iowa Legislative Service Bureau

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Iowa has a liberal populist tradition but now is fairly evenly divided between the two major political parties. The state supported Democrats in the presidential contests from 1988 through 2000. It was one of only two states that supported Democrat Al Gore that switched to supporting George W. Bush in 2004. Bush narrowly won the state's 7 electoral votes by a margin of 0.7 percentage points with 49.9% of the vote. Democratic strength is concentrated in the eastern region of the state and in Des Moines.

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:See List of Governors of Iowa, Iowa General Assembly, and Iowa State Capitol

Related Topics:
List of Governors of Iowa - Iowa General Assembly - Iowa State Capitol

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Iowa caucus

The state gets considerable attention every four years because of its first in the nation presidential caucus, a gathering of voters which, along with the New Hampshire primary a week later, has become the starting gun for choosing the two major-party candidates for U.S. president. The caucus, held in January of the election year, involves people gathering in homes or public places and choosing their candidate, rather than casting secret ballots, as is done in a primary election.

Related Topics:
Caucus - New Hampshire - Primary - Election

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U.S. senators from Iowa

List of United States Senators who have represented Iowa:

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