Sen. Zach Wahls is the new representative for Iowa State Senate District 43 after running unopposed.

As of 8:45 p.m. on Tuesday, Wahls has received 19,476 votes with 80% of Johnson County’s precincts reporting.

Wahls previously represented District 37 for the Iowa State Senate after being elected to his first-ever term as senator in 2018. Wahls was elected in 2020 as the Iowa Senate Democratic Leader.

Wahls’ website states he is a sixth-generation Iowan and currently lives in Coralville with his wife Chloe Angyal. Wahls also works as the vice president of community investment and development at GreenState Credit Union.

Before his election to the Iowa Senate, Wahls advocated for LGBTQ+ rights to the Iowa state government, speaking before the Iowa House Judiciary Committee about marriage equality for the LGBTQ+ community in 2011.

Wahls also co-founded and led a national campaign entitled Scouts for Equality to end LGBTQ+ discrimination in the Boy Scouts of America. Wahls is still an Eagle Scout and is also a member of the Unitarian Universalist congregation in Coralville.

Wahls has spoken at over 300 Iowa and national events, one of which was a primetime speech at the 2012 Democratic National Convention in support of the reelection of former President Barack Obama.

Based on the legislature that Wahls had sponsored in his time in the Iowa State Senate, he is a proponent for funding relating to working mothers, such as Medicaid postpartum coverage options.

Wahls has also sponsored bills related to funding Iowa’s small businesses and public schools, such as small business relief programs and funding for a statewide preschool program.