Jackie Norris, chair of the Des Moines School Board, is running for U.S. Senate. Norris hasn’t run for federal or statewide office before, but she’s been active in Iowa politics for almost 30 years.
“Red versus blue isn’t fixing anything. Iowa needs a Senator who doesn’t just talk tough but rolls up their sleeves, and has the grit and experience to actually get something done,” the candidate said in the news release announcing her candidacy.
Norris grew up in Ossining, New York, and earned a bachelor’s degree in political science at the State University of New York at Geneseo. In 1998, she moved to Iowa to work on Tom Vilsack’s campaign for governor. She had previously worked as deputy campaign manager for New York Democratic Congresswoman Louise Slaughter, and as an event coordinator for Vice President Al Gore.
During the 2008 Iowa Caucus, Norris helped lead Barack Obama’s campaign, and from 2009 to 2011, she served as chief of staff for First Lady Michelle Obama. Norris also served as executive director of the Corporate Institute at the nonprofit Points of Light, and as a senior advisor at the Corporation for National and Community Service. She also worked in leadership roles at other organizations focused on philanthropy and community improvement, and from 2016 to 2020, Norris was president and CEO of Goodwill Industries of Central Iowa. She is currently the owner and president of Horizon Group, a West Des Moines-based marketing research and management consulting firm.
But it’s her time as a high school government teacher in Perry, Johnston and Ames, as well as her service on the Des Moines School Board, that Norris, who earned a Master’s in political science and her secondary education teacher certificate from Iowa State University, highlighted in both her news release on Tuesday and the campaign video she released.
“As a teacher and a school board member, you see the invisible burdens that Iowa families are carrying,” Norris said in the news release. “Right now, too many families can’t afford to put food on the table and make ends meet. We have to find a way to make things more affordable for families.”
In her video, Norris points to the recently approved cuts to Medicaid. “Who’s it impacting?” she asks. “Middle-class families right now that can’t afford to put food on the table. We have to find a way to make things more affordable for families.”
Norris does not, however, mention the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which contained those cuts, or President Trump in either her news release or video, or on her campaign site. She also doesn’t mention incumbent Republican Sen. Joni Ernst in either, and the only reference to Ernst on Norris’s campaign site is a call to action on the “Volunteer” page that says, “Help us defeat Joni.”
Norris doesn’t say she’s a Democrat in either her news release or video. The only time a form of the word “Democrat” appears on her campaign site is when Norris is described as working in public service “under both Democratic and Republican presidents,” and in a description of Tom Vilsack, “the first Democratic governor to be elected in the state in 30 years.”
Norris and her husband John — who has had a long career in public service, and was a candidate in the Democratic primary for governor in 2018 — have three sons, Hunter, Cole and Sam. Hunter is attending West Point, his twin brother Cole is attending the U.S. Air Force Academy and Sam is enrolled at Grinnell College.
Norris is the fourth candidate to enter the race for the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate in next year’s election, joining Nathan Sage, state Rep. J.D. Scholten and state Sen. Zach Wahls.
