Representative Jennifer Konfrst

Jennifer Glover Konfrst was born on December 24, 1973, in Macomb, Illinois. She grew up in Des Moines, Iowa, Fort Dodge, Iowa, and Webster, Florida. She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism and Mass Communications and a Master of Public Administration from Drake University.

Before teaching at Drake, Jennifer spent 12 years in communications leadership at Iowa Public Television (IPTV). While there, she was responsible for strategy and implementation of communications for the network. She is currently an Associate Professor in Drake University’s School of Journalism and Mass Communication.

Jennifer first ran to represent the 43rd district in the Iowa House of Representatives in 2016, but lost to Republican incumbent Chris Hagenow. In 2018, Hagenow moved to the 19th district. Jennifer ran again for the newly-open seat and won. She won re-election in 2020.

She has been a member of the Iowa House of Representatives representing the 32nd district since 2019. She is the House minority leader, a position that she has held since 2021. When Todd Prichard stepped down as the House minority leader in 2021, Jennifer was elected on June 14, 2021, as the new House minority leader. She is the first woman to hold this position in Iowa. In 2022 she ran for re-election and won in the 32nd district against Republican Mark Brown.

Jennifer has served on various committees including the administration and rules committee, the judiciary committee, the local government committee, the state government committee, and the transportation committee. She was the assistant minority leader in 2019 and 2020 and the minority whip in 2021.

Jennifer and her husband, Lee, have two children.