Republican officials have announced A.J. Spiker as the new Iowa GOP chairman.

Members of the of the GOP State Central Committee voted Spiker the new chairman Feb. 11.

He is one of the 17 members of the committee, and he previously served as the Story County GOP chairman and the vice chairman of Ron Paul’s campaign in Iowa.

"I really am excited," Spiker told The Daily Iowan. "I think we’ve got a lot of good work ahead of us this year."

Spiker, a 32-year-old from Ames, said reaching out to young voters is a priority of his.

"The youth vote is very important to the Republican Party," he said. "Republican presidential candidates do events on campuses all over Iowa, and the [state] GOP is definitely reaching out to young voters and will continue to do so."

Spiker became the chairman after Matt Strawn resigned from the post Jan. 31. Strawn’s resignation became effective Feb. 10.

— by Kristen East