Jeff Kurtz (born 1954) is an American politician and retired locomotive engineer who 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 ...

from 2019 to 2021, which at the time consisted of parts of southern Lee County, including all of

Fort Madison Fort Madison is a city in and a county seat of Lee County, Iowa, Lee County, Iowa, United States along with Keokuk, Iowa, Keokuk. Of Iowa's 99 counties, Lee County is the only one with two county seats. The population was 10,270 at the time of ...

and Keokuk. He is a member of the Democratic Party.

Early life

Kurtz was born in 1954 in Fort Madison, Iowa. He graduated from Aquinas High School in 1972. He attended Southeastern Community College and

Iowa State University Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a Public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricult ...

. He joined the

Santa Fe Railroad The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway , often referred to as the Santa Fe or AT&SF, was one of the largest Class 1 railroads in the United States between 1859 and 1996. The Santa Fe was a pioneer in intermodal freight transport; at variou ...

as a

fireman A firefighter (or fire fighter or fireman) is a first responder trained in specific emergency response such as firefighting, primarily to control and extinguish fires and respond to emergencies such as hazardous material incidents, medical in ...

in 1974.

Political career

Kurtz announced his candidacy for the 83rd district of the Iowa House of Representatives in 2018 after incumbent Jerry Kearns announced he would not seek reelection. He won the Democratic primaries on June 5, 2018, with over 56 percent of the vote, and defeated Republican Jeff Reichman in the general election on November 6 by over 800 votes. He was subsequently appointed to the Labor, Public Safety, Transportation, and Ways and Means committees. Kurtz endorsed

Bernie Sanders Bernard Sanders (born September8, 1941) is an American politician and activist who is the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States Senate, United States senator from the state of Vermont. He is the longest-serving independ ...

for president in 2019. Kurtz ran for reelection in 2020 but lost to Republican

Martin Graber Martin L. Graber (June 3, 1952 – January 31, 2025) was an American politician who was a Republican member of the Iowa House of Representatives from 2021 until his death. Formerly serving district 83, he was serving District 100 at the time o ...

by over 700 votes.

Personal life

Kurtz has a wife, Debbie, and three adult children. He resides in Fort Madison. Kurtz worked as a locomotive engineer with

BNSF BNSF Railway is the largest freight railroad in the United States. One of six North American Class I railroads, BNSF has 36,000 employees, of track in 28 states, and over 8,000 locomotives. It has three transcontinental routes that provide ...

from 1975 to 2014. He has been a member of the

Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) is a trade union, labor union founded in Marshall, Michigan, on 8 May 1863 as the Brotherhood of the Footboard. It was the first permanent trade organization for railroad workers in the ...

(BLET) for over 40 years, and served as president of BLET Local 391 for eight years, chairman of the BLET Iowa State Legislative Board for ten years, and BLET Legislative and Safety Director for ten years.

Electoral history

* = incumbent

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kurtz, Jeff Date of birth missing (living people) Living people 1954 births Democratic Party members of the Iowa House of Representatives American locomotive engineers Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen people People from Fort Madison, Iowa Iowa State University alumni Southeastern Community College (Iowa) alumni 21st-century members of the Iowa General Assembly