| Liz Mathis | |
|---|---|
| Member of the Iowa Senate from the 18th district |
|
| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office November 21, 2011 |
|
| Preceded by | Swati Dandekar |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Elizabeth Ann Rumann 1957 or 1958 |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse(s) | Mark Mathis III |
| Residence | near Robins, Iowa, United States |
| Alma mater | University of Iowa |
| Occupation | Nonprofit executive, former news anchor, television producer, college professor |
Liz Mathis (born Elizabeth Ann Rumann, ca. 1958) is an American state legislator and nonprofit executive from Iowa, as well as a former news anchor, television producer, and college professor. She won a November 2011 special election to the Iowa Senate, to represent District 18 as a Democratic state senator. A former anchor for Iowa stations KWWL and KCRG-TV, she is currently chief information officer for a child welfare and juvenile justice agency, Four Oaks.
Contents |
Mathis was born on a farm in rural DeWitt, Iowa, and raised with her sisters Mary and Trudy. Her mother, Mary Eleanor Rumann, was a schoolteacher and nurse who served in World War II. Her father, James Edward Rumann, was a farmer and school board member who also served in the war.[1] Mathis received her bachelor's degree in 1980 from the University of Iowa, where she double-majored in communication and theater arts and in journalism.[2] To put herself through college, she worked weekends as a production assistant at WMT-TV (now KGAN).[3]
After graduating, she joined KWWL as a reporter and anchor, doing "a little bit of everything" from their newly opened Cedar Rapids bureau. Soon after joining the station, she moved to Waterloo to become an evening co-anchor alongside Ron Steele at the age of 23. Taking a break from broadcasting, in August 1996 she joined the faculty of Wartburg College in Waverly, Iowa, where she taught electronic media. In 1998 she became a news anchor, reporter and producer at KCRG-TV, where she remained for nine years.[3] In July 2007, she retired from broadcasting to become vice president for community relations for Horizons—A Family Service Alliance, a non-profit counseling and assistance agency in Cedar Rapids. She later became chief information officer for a child welfare and juvenile justice agency, Four Oaks.[2][4]
Mathis was nominated in September 2011 by the Iowa Democratic Party to run for the state senate seat vacated by Democrat Swati Dandekar.[5] Mathis faced Republican candidate Cindy Golding in a special election held on November 8, 2011. The election was politically significant for the state, as the Republican Party controls the Iowa governorship and General Assembly, and the Democrats stood to lose their one-seat majority in the state Senate. The most nationally prominent issue of the race was same-sex marriage, although Mathis preferred to focus on economic issues in the campaign.[6] Mathis won the election by 56 to 44 percent[7] and was sworn in on November 21, 2011.[8]
She is married to Mark Mathis III, who owns the advertising agency ME&V. They live outside the city of Robins, and have two children, Mark IV and Mary Fran.[4][9] Mathis has also taught part-time at the University of Iowa's School of Journalism and Mass Communication,[2] and remains a member of the Wartburg Board of Regents.[4]