Merlin Bartz

Merlin Bartz (born March 16, 1961) is an American politician who served as an Iowa State Senator from the 6th District, elected in 2008 and serving for a single term. A Republican, he sat on the Appropriations, Human Resources, Natural Resources, and Ways and Means committees. He was the ranking member on the Administration and Regulation Appropriations Subcommittee.[5]

Merlin E. Bartz
Member of the Iowa Senate
from the 6th district
In office
January 12, 2009 – January 13, 2013
Preceded byE. Thurman Gaskill
Succeeded byMark Segebart
Member of the Iowa Senate
from the 10th district
In office
January 11, 1993 – February 11, 2002[1]
Preceded byAlvin Miller
Succeeded byAmanda Ragan
Member of the Iowa House of Representatives
from the 19th district
In office
January 14, 1991 – January 11, 1993
Preceded byDennis May
Succeeded byGary Blodgett
Personal details
Born (1961-03-16) March 16, 1961
Mason City, Iowa, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
SpouseLisa Jorgensen
ResidenceGrafton, Iowa
Alma materLuther College
OccupationFarmer
WebsiteBartz's website
[2][3][4]

Bartz lost his reelection bid in 2012 in a race where there were two incumbents redistricted together. Incumbent Mary Jo Wilhlem defeated Senator Bartz by 126 votes in a very contentious election, where at one point Bartz was accused of joining the War on Women and of being demeaning to women.[6]

Previously he served in the Iowa House of Representatives (19th District, 1991 – 1993), and the Iowa Senate (10th District, 1993 – 2002). He was Senate Assistant Majority Leader in the 77th, 78th, and 79th General Assemblies.[2][7] Bartz was appointed (January, 2002) Special Assistant to the Undersecretary, Natural Resources and Environment, U.S. Department of Agriculture in Washington, D.C. He is a sixth generation Iowa farmer.[8] From July 2004, he was Regional Assistant Chief, Central, for the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). He was a management representative of the Chief, providing direction of NRCS programs and activities and overall leadership and supervision to state conservationists in Arkansas, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, and Wisconsin.[9] Bartz has a B.A. music and political science from Luther College.

Issues

Bartz has focused on reining in expenditures. Bartz launched a drive to gather petitions asking County Recorders to deny marriage licenses for same-sex marriages after Democrats thwarted efforts to launch a constitutional amendment in the Iowa General Assembly following the Iowa Supreme Court's 2009 ruling in Varnum v. Brien authorizing same-sex marriage in Iowa.[3][10]

Electoral history
Iowa Senate elections, 2012
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Mary Jo Wilhelm 15,530 50.17
Republican Merlin Bartz 15,404 49.17
Independent Write in 18 .66
Iowa Senate elections, 2008
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Merlin Bartz 14,268 49.26
Democratic Doug Thompson 12,447 42.97
Independent Kenneth J Abrams 2,232 7.71

References
  1. "Senate Journal: Monday, March 18, 2002". Journal of the Senate. Retrieved August 23, 2009.
  2. "Senator Merlin E. Bartz - Biography". Project Vote Smart. Retrieved 2009-06-15.
  3. "Senator Merlin E. Bartz". Iowa Senate Republicans. Archived from the original on 2009-06-15. Retrieved 2009-06-15.
  4. "Iowa Legislator - Representative Merlin Bartz". Archived from the original on 2011-08-12. Retrieved 2009-06-15.
  5. "Iowa General Assembly - Merlin Bartz (R): 6". Archived from the original on 2010-01-15. Retrieved 2009-06-15.
  6. "War On Women: Iowa edition". Retrieved 2012-10-15.
  7. "SR 149 ...honoring Senator Merlin E. Bartz". Iowa Legislative Information System. April 10, 2002. Retrieved 2009-06-15.
  8. "Conservation Security Program Listening Session" (PDF). Madison, Wisconsin. February 26, 2004. pp. 3, 6. Archived from the original (PDF Transcript of Proceedings) on 2009-01-14. Retrieved 2009-06-15.
  9. "Wisconsin Academy: SW Forum". Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts, & Letters. Archived from the original on 2011-07-28. Retrieved 2009-06-15.
  10. Richardson, Valerie (April 28, 2009). "Maine, N.H. new gay marriage front - Legislative steps build confidence after other wins". The Washington Times. Washington, D.C. Retrieved 2009-08-21. [S]ame-sex couples were allowed to legally wed in Iowa after the state Supreme Court in early April ruled in favor of such marriages. ... [Bartz] launched a petition drive last week aimed at encouraging county recorders to reject marriage applications from same-sex couples until Iowans are able to vote on a same-sex marriage referendum. Republicans in the Iowa House and Senate have tried repeatedly to convince the General Assembly to place a traditional-marriage constitutional amendment on the ballot, but they've been stymied by the Democratic leadership. ... 'We've attempted four times on the floor of the Senate to bring up a constitutional amendment or at least deal with the court decision,' Mr. Bartz said. 'After all these efforts failed, you say, OK, the people of Iowa can't vote on this, they can't make their voices heard, so let's at least do a petition.'
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