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Izaah Knox

From Ballotpedia
Izaah Knox
Iowa State Senate District 17
Tenure
2023 - Present
Term ends
2027
Years in position
3
Compensation
Base salary
$25,000/year
Per diem
$201/day for legislators who live outside of Polk County. $150.75/day for legislators who live within Polk County.
Elections and appointments
Last election
November 8, 2022
Education
Bachelor's
Drake University
Ph.D
Iowa State University, 2023
Graduate
Drake University, 2010
Personal
Birthplace
Iowa City, IA
Profession
Executive
Contact

Izaah Knox (Democratic Party) is a member of theIowa State Senate, representingDistrict 17. He assumed office on January 3, 2023. His current term ends on January 2, 2027.

Knox (Democratic Party) ran for election to theIowa State Senate to representDistrict 17. He won in the general election onNovember 8, 2022.

Knox completed Ballotpedia'sCandidate Connection survey in 2022.Click here to read the survey answers.

Biography

Izaah Knox was born inIowa 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 toBillTrack50 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

2025-2026

Knox was assigned to the following committees:

2023-2024

Knox was assigned to the following committees:


Elections

2022

See also: Iowa State Senate elections, 2022

General election

General election for Iowa State Senate District 17

Izaah Knox defeatedToya S. Johnson andAlejandro Murguia-Ortiz in the general election for Iowa State Senate District 17 on November 8, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Izaah Knox
Izaah Knox (D) Candidate Connection
 
76.6
 
10,286
Image of Toya S. Johnson
Toya S. Johnson (L)
 
12.6
 
1,690
Image of Alejandro Murguia-Ortiz
Alejandro Murguia-Ortiz (Independent) Candidate Connection
 
9.7
 
1,297
 Other/Write-in votes
 
1.2
 
162

Ballotpedia Logo

There were noincumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 13,435
Candidate Connection = candidate completed theBallotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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.

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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Iowa State Senate District 17

Izaah Knox defeatedGrace Van Cleave in the Democratic primary for Iowa State Senate District 17 on June 7, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Izaah Knox
Izaah Knox Candidate Connection
 
67.0
 
2,726
Grace Van Cleave
 
32.8
 
1,336
 Other/Write-in votes
 
0.2
 
7

Ballotpedia Logo

There were noincumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 4,069
Candidate Connection = candidate completed theBallotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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, pleaseclick here.

Campaign themes

2022

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also:Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Candidate Connection

Izaah Knox completedBallotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Knox's responses.

Expand all |Collapse all

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.
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

Ballotpedia LogoNote: 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 theFEC website. Clickhere for more on federal campaign finance law andhere for more on state campaign finance law.

Izaah Knox campaign contribution history
YearOfficeStatusContributionsExpenditures
2022Iowa State Senate District 17Won general$83,962 $81,247
Grand total$83,962 $81,247
Sources:OpenSecrets, Federal Elections Commission ***This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).

Scorecards

See also:State legislative scorecards andState legislative scorecards in Iowa

Ascorecard 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 toeditor@ballotpedia.org.


2024

To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2024, click [show].   

In 2024, theIowa State Legislature was in session from January 8 to April 20.

Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to economic issues.
Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to labor issues.
Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to business issues.


2023

To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2023, click [show].   

In 2023, theIowa State Legislature was in session from January 9 to May 4.

Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to labor issues.









See also


External links

Candidate

Iowa State Senate District 17

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    • Officeholder

    Iowa State Senate District 17

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    • Footnotes

    1. ↑1.01.1Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on May 8, 2022
    2. ↑LinkedIn, "Izaah JB Knox," accessed May 16, 2023

    Political offices
    Preceded by
    -    		Iowa State Senate District 17
    2023-Present    		Succeeded by
    -


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