The Iowa Democratic Party has a new chairman. It’s Ross Wilburn, a former Iowa City mayor who currently lives in Ames and was just elected to a second term in the Iowa House.

He’s the first black Iowan to lead either of Iowa’s two major political parties.

New State ChairWilburn takes over from Mark Smith of Marshalltown, who stepped into the role last February after the party’s failure to quickly report the results of the 2020 Iowa Caucuses. Smith oversaw Saturday’s meeting to elect his successor.