Meet Jennifer

For Jennifer Konfrst, central Iowa is home. It’s where her family’s roots are. It’s where she grew up and graduated high school. It’s where she teaches and the community that has trusted her to fight for them in the Iowa Legislature. It’s where she and her husband raised their kids.

Born in Macomb, Illinois, to two Air Force veterans, Jennifer moved to Fort Dodge as a baby. Jennifer is a proud third generation union member who was raised in a working class household. Her mom, Penni, grew up in Greene County, Iowa, making Jennifer a sixth generation Iowan and her dad, Mike, served in Vietnam then went to college on the GI bill when Jennifer was a toddler. They divorced when Jennifer was two. For the next few years, Jennifer and her mom moved frequently, struggling to make ends meet while Penni worked as a nurse at hospitals across the country. When Jennifer’s third-grade teacher in Florida told Penni that she could probably skip the fourth grade, Penni realized her daughter wasn’t getting the strong public education she had growing up in Iowa. Knowing how important it was that Jennifer get the top-notch education that Iowa public schools provided, she sent her back to Iowa to live with her dad and stepmom, Betty.

In Iowa, Jennifer attended Johnston Public Schools before going to Drake University, where she met her husband, Lee. They married in 1996 and raised their a family in Windsor Heights. They are lifelong members of Plymouth Church in Des Moines. Today, she and Lee are the proud parents of Ellie and James, both graduates of Des Moines Public Schools, and live in Windsor Heights with their dog Clark and their cats, Ivy and Luna.

In 2001, Jennifer went to work for Iowa PBS in communications, where she stayed for over a decade, helping support public television and bring the stories that matter most to Iowans into our living rooms. In 2013, she started her dream job teaching at Drake University. Jennifer is currently a professor in Drake University’s School of Journalism and Mass Communication. She’s proud to help so many young people find passion in their careers and loves nothing more than watching her students graduate and thrive in the work force.

As a mom, Jennifer served as President of the Plymouth Nursery School Board, President of the Downtown School PTA, Mock Trial coach at Merrill Middle School, and was a member of the PTA and a debate team parent volunteer at Roosevelt High School. She ran for office the first time when her kids were young to take action to protect Iowa's public schools, flipping her suburban seat in 2018 red to blue and being elected House Democratic Leader in 2021 as the first ever woman to hold the role.

In the Iowa House, Jennifer became known as a fierce fighter for working families and built a reputation for being the kind of leader who can reach across the aisle to get things done for her constituents without ever abandoning our values. Jennifer was proud to lead the Iowa House Dems in several bipartisan efforts that delivered for Iowans including a bill to expand cancer coverage for first responders, exempting diapers/feminine hygiene products from sales tax; expanding parental leave for adoptions and state employees, and supporting bipartisan bills for property tax relief.

Jennifer knows what Iowans are facing because she's been through it. Growing up in a working class household, she understand the struggle to pay the bills and what it's like to make the choice between gas or groceries. As a working mom, she understands the challenges of finding affordable healthcare as premiums skyrocket. As an educator, she knows that young Iowans are leaving our states in droves because they don't see opportunity here and we need to change that.

Now, Jennifer is running for Congress because Iowans need a fighter who can win and get results for us in DC. Traveling across Iowa's Third Congressional District she hears the same story from folks whether they're in Des Moines, the Dallas County suburbs, working class towns like Ottumwa, or rural Iowa: Iowans feel left behind. They can't keep up with rising costs and they're are tired of politicians who care more about their political futures than building strong communities and ensuring there's opportunity for us here in Iowa.

Jennifer is a fighter who won’t back down, a leader who will stand up to billionaires and corporations. Iowans need an economy that works for them, and she is ready to fight every day to set aside political games and put Iowans first.