Meet Chet Culver
Chet Culver
Candidate for Governor
Iowa
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"I care deeply about the challenges Iowa faces, but, as a proud progressive Democrat and a proud fifth-generation Iowan, I have an even greater faith in Iowa’s promise. I’m running for Governor because I believe we can build on our strengths in agriculture, manufacturing and education to create good jobs with good benefits in every corner of our great state.”
— Chet Culver
Chet Culver was elected as Iowa's 29th Secretary of State and the youngest Secretary of State in the nation on November 3, 1998 at age 33. Culver began his four-year term on January 1, 1999. Prior to his election, Secretary Culver worked for over ten years in public service in Iowa as an educator at Hoover High School in Des Moines, an investigator in the Attorney General's Office, and a youth advocate.
As a former high school government and history teacher and coach, Secretary Culver is committed to educating young people about the importance of civic participation. To accomplish this, Secretary Culver has created the Iowa Student Political Awareness Club (ISPAC), a nonpartisan statewide student organization dedicated to increasing civic and community participation.
As Secretary of State, Chet is a voting member of the Executive Council and chairs the Executive Council Insurance Advisory Committee. He is the Chairperson of the State Voter Registration Commission and serves on the State Records Management Committee.
At the national level, Secretary Culver is a member of the National Association of Secretaries of State and serves on the Elections and Voter Participation Committee, the Presidential Caucuses and Primaries Committee and the New Millennium Youth Initiative. He also serves on the Elections Task Force on the Council of State Governments.
Secretary Culver received his Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University in 1988. He earned his Master of Arts in Teaching from Drake University in 1994. As a member of the Iowa State Education Association, Culver was awarded a Fulbright Memorial Fund Teachers Scholarship to Japan for a three-week study in the Fall of 1997.
Secretary Culver is the youngest of four children of former Senator John Culver and Ann Cooper Culver. Senator Culver served Iowa in the United States House of Representatives from 1965-1974 and in the United States Senate from 1974-1980.
Secretary Culver and his wife, Mari Thinnes Culver, and their two children, Clare Honour and John William, make their home in West Des Moines. Chet is a member of Central Presbyterian Church where he serves as an Elder.