Christopher Rants is no longer the House Republican leader.
House Republicans today voted Rep. Kraig Paulsen of Hiawatha as the
leader and will hold a news conference at 4:30 p.m. today to officially
announce the change along with other leadership roles.
The change comes after House Republicans lost seats in four consecutive election cycles.
Rants, of Sioux City, has been in leadership roles for three of those cycles.
"I
think Republicans need to take a step back, and doing business as
usual, I think, is the wrong picture," Paulsen said last week. "That's
not to say Christopher will or won't move in the same or a new
direction, but we're at 44 seats. I think now is the right time to make
that change."
Rants, 41, was chosen by House Republicans in 2002 as House
speaker, when the party held a 54-to-46 majority. He was first elected
to the Legislature in 1992, when he was 25.
Democrats gained
seats in 2002 as well as 2004 and took the majority after the 2006
elections. Rants, in 2006, was named House minority leader by his peers.
In last week's election, according to unofficial results, Democrats increased their majority from 53 to 56 seats.
Paulsen,
44, joined the Air Force in 1987 and worked as a training squadron
operations officer at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. He
returned to Iowa in 1997, earned a law degree from the University of
Iowa in 2003, and now works as an attorney for CRST International in
Cedar Rapids.
Paulsen was first elected to the House in 2002 and serves as the minority whip, one of the leadership positions in the House.
House
Republicans began a private meeting - known as a caucus - at around 10
a.m. today to discuss their priorities and select their leadership.
They will hold a press conference at the Capitol at 4:30 p.m.