Charles R. "Chuck" Gipp (born November 30, 1947) is an American politician in the state of

Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

. A Republican, he served in the

Iowa House of Representatives The Iowa House of Representatives is the lower house of the Iowa General Assembly, the upper house being the Iowa Senate. There are 100 seats in the Iowa House of Representatives, representing 100 single-member districts across the state, formed ...

for the 31st district from 1990 to 2003 and for the 16th district from 2003 to 2009. He was the majority leader in the Iowa House from 2003 to 2007, when the Democrats recaptured the legislature in the 2006 elections.

Early life

Gipp was born on November 30, 1947, in Decorah, Iowa. His parents were Alvin and Jeanette Gipp. He graduated from Thomas Roberts High School in 1966 and received his bachelor's of arts degree from Luther College in 1977. The next year, he married J. Ranae Keoppel. The couple had two children: Alison and Barrett.

Political career

Gipp served as the chair of the Winneshiek County Republicans from 1980 to 1990, chair of the Winneshiek County Solid Waste Commission from 1981 to 1990 and as a member of the Iowa Brown Swiss Association, the

Farm Bureau The American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF), more informally called the American Farm Bureau (AFB) or simply the Farm Bureau, is a United States–based 501(c)(5) tax-exempt agricultural organization and lobbying group. Headquartered in Wash ...

and the

National Federation of Independent Business The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) is an association of small businesses in the United States. It is headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee, with offices in Washington, D.C., and all 50 state capitals. The stated goal of NFIB ...

. He was first elected to the

in the 1990 general election for the 31st district. He served on several committees in the Iowa House: the state government committee and the transportation committee. He also served on the Transportation, Infrastructure, and Capitals Appropriations Subcommittee. He was the assistant majority leader of the Iowa House from 1993 to 1994 and majority whip of the Iowa House from 1995 to 1996. Gipp was re-elected in 2006 with 5,782 votes (59%), defeating Democratic opponent Thomas Hansen. He did not contest the 2008 election and was succeeded by a Democrat, John W. Beard. Gipp was the director of the

Iowa Department of Natural Resources The Iowa Department of Natural Resources (Iowa DNR or IA DNR) is a department/agency of the U.S. state of Iowa formed in 1986, charged with maintaining state parks and forests, protecting the environment of Iowa, and managing energy, fish, wi ...

(DNR) from 2012-2018. He had been the deputy director since August 5, 2011. Before that he was the administrator of the Soil Conservation Division for the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship. He became the Director of the Iowa DNR after his predecessor, Roger Lande, resigned on May 25, 2012.

References

External links

Gipp on Project Vote SmartGipp's Capitol Web Address
Republican Party members of the Iowa House of Representatives State cabinet secretaries of Iowa Living people 1947 births People from Decorah, Iowa Luther College (Iowa) alumni 20th-century members of the Iowa General Assembly 21st-century members of the Iowa General Assembly {{Iowa-politician-stub