Izaah Knox
2023 - Present
2027
2
Izaah Knox (Democratic Party) is a member of the Iowa State Senate, representing District 17. He assumed office on January 3, 2023. His current term ends on January 2, 2027.
Knox (Democratic Party) ran for election to the Iowa State Senate to represent District 17. He won in the general election on November 8, 2022.
Knox completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Izaah Knox was born in Iowa City, Iowa.[1] Knox earned a B.A. in public relations/image management from Drake University, an M.Ed. in leadership development from Drake University in 2010, and a Ph.D. in higher education administration from Iowa State University in 2023. His career experience includes owning Izaah Knox Enterprises and working as the executive director of Urban Dreams.[1][2]
Sponsored legislation
The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according to BillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.
Committee assignments
Note: This membership information was last updated in September 2023. Ballotpedia completes biannual updates of committee membership. If you would like to send us an update, email us at:editor@ballotpedia.org.
2023-2024
Knox was assigned to the following committees:
- Senate Commerce Committee
- Senate Judiciary Committee
- Senate Local Government Committee
- Natural Resources & Environment Committee, Ranking Member
- Information Technology Committee
- Capital Projects Committee
Elections
2022
See also: Iowa State Senate elections, 2022
General election
General election for Iowa State Senate District 17
Izaah Knox defeated Toya S. Johnson and Alejandro Murguia-Ortiz in the general election for Iowa State Senate District 17 on November 8, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Izaah Knox (D) | 76.6 | 10,286 | |
| Toya S. Johnson (L) | 12.6 | 1,690 | ||
| Alejandro Murguia-Ortiz (Independent) | 9.7 | 1,297 | ||
| Other/Write-in votes | 1.2 | 162 | ||
| Total votes: 13,435 | ||||
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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Iowa State Senate District 17
Izaah Knox defeated Grace Van Cleave in the Democratic primary for Iowa State Senate District 17 on June 7, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Izaah Knox | 67.0 | 2,726 | |
| Grace Van Cleave | 32.8 | 1,336 | ||
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.2 | 7 | ||
| Total votes: 4,069 | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Endorsements
To view Knox's endorsements in the 2022 election, please click here.
Campaign themes
2022
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Izaah Knox completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Knox's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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I am a dependable and dedicated community member. I have lived in the district for nearly two decades - serving our neighborhood associations and volunteering at community events. From RoR to Summer City Hoops to starting the Heart of Des Moines Democrats in response to the lack of voter engagement after the 2016 elections, I have a proven track record of creating solutions for people in our community to find upward mobility and opportunity. My wife and I have been dedicated to raising our kids in a once abandoned home in the River Bend neighborhood. Through my work at Urban Dreams and as a volunteer football and basketball coach at North and East, I have supported our public school students, teachers, and staff authentically and sustainably. Whenever necessary, even if it is difficult or scary, I have always shown up and fought for civil and human rights, including women’s rights. During the pandemic, I never stopped working in person. Food distribution and access to healthcare went into overdrive to ensure the needs were met. I have served on countless boards dedicated to the betterment of the community, such as the Civil and Human Rights Commission and the Polk County Housing Trust Fund. My contributions were recognized with the Barack Obama Presidential Volunteer Award. Bottom line, I have a real-life, lived experience serving SD 17 and a track record of delivering results for our community.
- Public Funds for Public Schools
- Civil and Human Rights
- Workforce Development
As Malcolm X stated, “education is the passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today.” This statement is just as true now as when he said it. As our State Senator, I will fight to adequately and fully fund all of Iowa's public schools. Public dollars are for public schools. Moreover, public schools should have the discretion to get those funds into the classroom so that teachers have all the tools they need to teach and students have everything they need to learn. I have two daughters in Des Moines Public Schools, and I work inside the public schools. We need a State Senator who has experience creating, implementing, and scaling successful programs for students in PreK-12, high school equivalency programs, PSE, and the Trades. I am that candidate.
I will always put my community first and look forward to building relationships to connect the residents of SD17 more closely with all legislators, including Republicans. I have a history of working on behalf of members of my community to get things done with Republicans. In partnership with Future Ready Iowa, I helped create a successful apprenticeship program targeted to benefit individuals living in 50314 and 50317 at Broadlawns Medical Center. I was appointed to the Governor's FOCUS Committee on Justice Reform which offered excellent recommendations, and I look forward to working on getting these through as our State Senator. Additionally, I am a member of the Minority Unemployment and Outreach Committee led by Debi Durham. I am a bridge-builder. I have a vast amount of experience successfully working with people by engaging in civil discourse and treating people with dignity and respect.
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
Scorecards
A scorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.
Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.
Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states. To contribute to the list of Iowa scorecards, email suggestions to editor@ballotpedia.org.
2024
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2024, click [show]. |
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In 2024, the Iowa State Legislature was in session from January 8 to April 20.
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2023
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2023, click [show]. |
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In 2023, the Iowa State Legislature was in session from January 9 to May 4.
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See also
2022 Elections
External links
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Candidate Iowa State Senate District 17 |
Officeholder Iowa State Senate District 17 |
Personal |
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on May 8, 2022
- ↑ LinkedIn, "Izaah JB Knox," accessed May 16, 2023
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by - |
Iowa State Senate District 17 2023-Present |
Succeeded by - |
