Jerome Amos Jr. (born 1954) is an American politician, teacher and former machinist who has represented the 62nd district 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 ...

since January 2023, which consists of parts of northeast

Black Hawk County Black Hawk County is a county in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of Iowa. As of the 2020 census, the population was 131,144, making it Iowa's fifth-most populous county. The county seat is Waterloo. Black Hawk County is part of the Wa ...

, including much of northeastern

Waterloo Waterloo most commonly refers to: * Battle of Waterloo, 1815 battle where Napoleon's French army was defeated by Anglo-allied and Prussian forces * Waterloo, Belgium Waterloo may also refer to: Other places Australia * Waterloo, New South Wale ...

. He is a member of the Democratic Party.

Early life

Amos Jr. was born in 1954 in Waterloo, Iowa, where he was raised. He graduated from

Waterloo East High School Waterloo East High School in Waterloo, Iowa, United States is a state school, public high school consisting of approximately 1000 students in grades 9–12. It is a part of the Waterloo Community School District. History The school was foun ...

in 1972 and attended

Upper Iowa University Upper Iowa University (UIU) is a private university in Fayette, Iowa, United States. It enrolls around 3,000 students and offers distance education programs that include centers in the U.S., an online program, an independent study program, an ...

for one year in 1974 before working for

John Deere Deere & Company, Trade name, doing business as John Deere (), is an American corporation that manufactures agricultural machinery, heavy equipment, forestry machinery, diesel engines, drivetrains (axles, Transmission (mechanical device), transmi ...

Political career

Following decennial redistricting in 2021, Amos Jr. announced his intent to run for the 62nd district in the Iowa House of Representatives after incumbent

Ras Smith RasTafari I. "Ras" Smith (born December 29, 1987) is an American politician from Iowa. He served in the Iowa House of Representatives from 2017 to 2023, as a legislator from District 62. Personal life, education, and early career RasTafari Smit ...

announced he would not seek reelection. He won the Democratic primaries unopposed on June 7, 2022, and won the general election on November 8 unopposed with over 96 percent of the vote. In 2024, Amos Jr. filed to run for reelection. He won the Democratic primaries unopposed on June 4, 2024, and will run unopposed in the general election on November 5, 2024. Amos Jr. currently serves on the Appropriations, Labor and Workforce, Local Government, and Public Safety committees. Amos Jr. has advocated for

labor unions A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

, being a member of the local

United Auto Workers The United Auto Workers (UAW), fully named International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America, is an American labor union that represents workers in the United States (including Puerto Rico) and sou ...

chapter. He also supports

marijuana Cannabis (), commonly known as marijuana (), weed, pot, and ganja, List of slang names for cannabis, among other names, is a non-chemically uniform psychoactive drug from the ''Cannabis'' plant. Native to Central or South Asia, cannabis has ...

legalization. Prior to his election to the House, Amos Jr. served on the Waterloo City Council from 2016 to 2023. He has also served on the Iowa Workforce Development Board, Iowa Energy Sector Partnership, and various Black Hawk County boards.

Personal life

Amos Jr. has a wife, Tina Harmon-Amos, and seven adult children. He resides in Waterloo. He has served as an adjunct instructor at Hawkeye Community College since 2013, and previously worked as a machinist at

for 36 years. In 2019, Amos Jr. was fined $20 for failing to file his campaign finance report by the deadline while serving as a Waterloo City Council member. In 2023, Amos Jr. filed for

chapter 13 bankruptcy Title 11 of the United States Code sets forth the statutes governing the various types of relief for bankruptcy in the United States. Chapter 13 of the United States Bankruptcy Code provides an individual with the opportunity to propose a plan o ...

, claiming $93,700 in liabilities, mainly mortgage, an auto loan and over $11,000 in tax debt.

U.S. Bank U.S. Bancorp (stylized as us bancorp) is an American multinational financial services firm headquartered in Minneapolis, Minneapolis, Minnesota and incorporated in Delaware. It is the List of largest banks in the United States, 5th-largest ban ...

had filed for foreclosure in May 2022.

Electoral history

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Amos, Jerome Jr. Date of birth missing (living people) Living people 1954 births Democratic Party members of the Iowa House of Representatives 21st-century members of the Iowa General Assembly African-American state legislators in Iowa Politicians from Waterloo, Iowa African-American schoolteachers Schoolteachers from Iowa Machinists African-American city council members in Iowa Upper Iowa University alumni 21st-century African-American politicians