James Uhlenkamp Announces Bid for State Senate

Mount Ayr, Iowa – Rural educator and former Mount Ayr Community School Board vice president James Uhlenkamp announced his nomination for the open seat in Iowa Senate District 9. That seat is currently held by Tom Shipley (R), who is not seeking re-election.

Uhlenkamp attended Carroll High School and the University of Iowa. After college he and his wife Jane lived in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas for five years, where he taught junior high and high school English from 1986 to 1991. They returned to Iowa after the birth of their first daughter so their children would grow near family. 

They settled in Mount Ayr, where he taught high school English and German and coached wrestling. Uhlenkamp earned a master’s in education from Viterbo College in La Crosse, Wisconsin. Uhlenkamp was one of the first high school teachers to teach online, offering German to Iowa high schools from Strawberry Point to Underwood and Clarinda. He taught English at SWCC in Creston for three years after which he taught and worked at several small colleges. Uhlenkamp earned a doctorate in educational administration from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. 

His public service has included service on the Mount Ayr Teen Center Board, three stints on the Mount Ayr Public Library Board and six years on the Mount Ayr Community School Board. 

The erosion of local control and increasing consolidation of political decision-making in Des Moines has troubled Uhlenkamp for the past ten years. “Centralized planning and control rarely succeed. I will work in the Iowa senate to return Iowa to a simple governing principle: laws must address clear and serious problems. Most solutions should originate at the city or county level, rather than statewide. What works in Des Moines may not fit the needs of Atlantic, Creston, or Clarinda. Most of all, no public money should be given to anyone without a clear way to measure the direct benefits to the people of Iowa.”

He noted that the Iowa legislature, for example, gave $250 million to the private school voucher program in 2025 alone. The voucher program provides taxpayer money for private schools, and the program has no dollar cap or accountability to taxpayers. “We need to return government to a respect for the working people of Iowa and regain control of our fiscal house.”

Uhlenkamp plans to focus on meeting with people across Senate District 9 and learn more about their concerns. The district includes Ringgold, Taylor, Page, Montgomery, Cass, Adams, and half of Union County.