Cindy Golding (born 1952) is an American politician, entrepreneur, farmer and former chemist who has represented the 83rd district of 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 ...

since January 2023, which consists of much of rural Linn County. She is a member of the Republican Party.

Early life

Golding was born in 1952 in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, and was raised in rural northern

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

. She went to

Northern Illinois University Northern Illinois University (NIU) is a public research university in DeKalb, Illinois, United States. It was founded as "Northern Illinois State Normal School" in 1895 by Illinois Governor John P. Altgeld, initially to provide the state with c ...

before attending

Elmhurst University Elmhurst University is a private university in Elmhurst, Illinois, United States. It has a tradition of service-oriented learning and an affiliation with the United Church of Christ. The university changed its name from Elmhurst College on July ...

, where she majored in biochemistry.

Political career

Golding ran for the 18th district of the

Iowa Senate The Iowa Senate is the upper house of the Iowa General Assembly. There are 50 seats in the Iowa Senate, representing 50 single-member districts across the Iowa, state of Iowa with populations of approximately 60,927 per constituency, . Each Senat ...

in a special election in 2011 to fill a vacancy left by

Swati Dandekar Swati A. Dandekar (born March 6, 1951) is a former Iowa state legislator and former U.S. Executive Director at the Asian Development Bank. She is a Democratic member of the Iowa Utilities Board, awaiting Senate confirmation in 2012. Previously, ...

's resignation, but lost to Democrat Liz Mathis. Golding announced her candidacy for the 83rd district of the Iowa House of Representatives shortly after decennial redistricting took place in 2021. She won the Republican primaries unopposed on June 7, 2022, and defeated Democrat Kris Nall in the general election on November 8 by over 2,800 votes. Golding endorsed

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

for president in 2023. In 2024, Golding filed to run for reelection. She won the Republican primaries unopposed on June 4, 2024, and will face Democrat Kent McNally in the general election on November 5, 2024. Golding currently serves on the Labor and Workforce, Veterans Affairs, State Government, and Local Government committees, the lattermost of which she is vice chair.

Personal life

Golding has a husband, Joe, six adult children, and 21 grandchildren. She resides in rural Linn County. She is the co-founder of Advancement Resources, a training services and research company, and also owns several farms. She worked as an

analytical chemist Analytical chemistry studies and uses instruments and methods to separate, identify, and quantify matter. In practice, separation, identification or quantification may constitute the entire analysis or be combined with another method. Separa ...

prior to her business ventures. Golding has been active in numerous organizations. She is the former chair of the Linn County Republican Party Central Committee and Heartland Youth for Christ, former second vice president of the Iowa Federation of Republican Women, and is a former board member of 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 ...

, Five Seasons Republican Women, Linn County

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 Hawkeye Area Community Action Program. She has also worked as an FFA judge, cheerleading coach,

Academic Decathlon The Academic Decathlon (also called AcDec, AcaDeca or AcaDec) is an annual Student competition, high school academic competition organized by the non-profit United States Academic Decathlon (USAD). The competition consists of seven objective mult ...

coach and judge, Chemistry Olympiad proctor, Mathcounts coach, church youth leader, and

Boy Scout A Scout, Boy Scout, Girl Scout or, in some countries, a Pathfinder is a participant in the Scout Movement, usually aged 10–18 years, who engage in learning scoutcraft and outdoor and other special interest activities. Some Scout organizatio ...

and

Girl Scout A Scout, Boy Scout, Girl Scout or, in some countries, a Pathfinder is a participant in the Scout Movement, usually aged 10–18 years, who engage in learning scoutcraft and outdoor and other special interest activities. Some Scout organization ...

leader.

Electoral history

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Golding, Cindy Date of birth missing (living people) Living people 1952 births Republican Party members of the Iowa House of Representatives 21st-century members of the Iowa General Assembly 21st-century American women politicians Women state legislators in Iowa 21st-century American businesswomen 20th-century American businesswomen Businesspeople from Iowa 21st-century American women farmers 21st-century American farmers Farmers from Iowa Analytical chemists Politicians from Chicago People from Linn County, Iowa Northern Illinois University alumni Elmhurst College alumni