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John Forbes

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John Forbes
Democratic Party
Prior offices:
Iowa House of Representatives District 44
Years in office: 2023 - 2025
Predecessor: Kenan Judge (D)
Successor: Larry McBurney (D)
Iowa House of Representatives District 40
Years in office: 2013 - 2023
Successor: Bill Gustoff (R)
Elections and appointments
Last election
November 8, 2022
Education
Bachelor's
Drake University, 1980
Personal
Birthplace
Clarion, IA
Profession
Pharmacist
Contact
Personal Facebook
Personal LinkedIn

John Forbes (Democratic Party) was a member of the Iowa House of Representatives, representing District 44. He assumed office on January 1, 2023. He left office on January 1, 2025.

Forbes (Democratic Party) ran for re-election to the Iowa House of Representatives to represent District 44. He won in the general election on November 8, 2022.

Biography

John Forbes was born in Clarion, Iowa. Forbes graduated from Eagle Grove High School in 1975.[1] He earned a B.S. in pharmacy from Drake University in 1980. Forbes' career experience includes owning and managing Medicap Pharmacy. He served on the city council of Urbandale, Iowa, and has been affiliated with the Urbandale Library Foundation Board, the Iowa Pharmacy Association, and Polk County Pharmacists Association.[1][2]

Committee assignments

2023-2024

Forbes was assigned to the following committees:

2021-2022

Forbes was assigned to the following committees:

2019-2020

Forbes was assigned to the following committees:

2017 legislative session

At the beginning of the 2017 legislative session, this legislator served on the following committees:

Iowa committee assignments, 2017
• Commerce
• Human Resources
• Transportation
• Ways and Means

2015 legislative session

At the beginning of the 2015 legislative session, Forbes served on the following committees:

2013-2014

At the beginning of the 2013 legislative session, Forbes served on the following committees:

The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according to BillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.


Elections

2024

See also: Iowa House of Representatives elections, 2024

John Forbes did not file to run for re-election.

2022

See also: Iowa House of Representatives elections, 2022

General election

General election for Iowa House of Representatives District 44

Incumbent John Forbes won election in the general election for Iowa House of Representatives District 44 on November 8, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of John Forbes
John Forbes (D)
 
95.9
 
10,117
 Other/Write-in votes
 
4.1
 
438

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 10,555
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Iowa House of Representatives District 44

Incumbent John Forbes advanced from the Democratic primary for Iowa House of Representatives District 44 on June 7, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of John Forbes
John Forbes
 
99.5
 
2,509
 Other/Write-in votes
 
0.5
 
12

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 2,521
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

2020

See also: Iowa House of Representatives elections, 2020

General election

General election for Iowa House of Representatives District 40

Incumbent John Forbes defeated Jon Coen in the general election for Iowa House of Representatives District 40 on November 3, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of John Forbes
John Forbes (D)
 
59.7
 
10,589
Image of Jon Coen
Jon Coen (R)
 
40.1
 
7,108
 Other/Write-in votes
 
0.2
 
28

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 17,725
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Iowa House of Representatives District 40

Incumbent John Forbes advanced from the Democratic primary for Iowa House of Representatives District 40 on June 2, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of John Forbes
John Forbes
 
99.7
 
3,759
 Other/Write-in votes
 
0.3
 
12

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 3,771
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Iowa House of Representatives District 40

Jon Coen defeated Eric South in the Republican primary for Iowa House of Representatives District 40 on June 2, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Jon Coen
Jon Coen
 
60.8
 
981
Image of Eric South
Eric South Candidate Connection
 
38.2
 
617
 Other/Write-in votes
 
1.0
 
16

There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 1,614
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

2018

See also: Iowa House of Representatives elections, 2018

General election

General election for Iowa House of Representatives District 40

Incumbent John Forbes won election in the general election for Iowa House of Representatives District 40 on November 6, 2018.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of John Forbes
John Forbes (D)
 
96.8
 
11,565
 Other/Write-in votes
 
3.2
 
382

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 11,947
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Iowa House of Representatives District 40

Incumbent John Forbes advanced from the Democratic primary for Iowa House of Representatives District 40 on June 5, 2018.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of John Forbes
John Forbes
 
100.0
 
2,398

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified.

Total votes: 2,398
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

2016

See also: Iowa House of Representatives elections, 2016

Elections for the Iowa House of Representatives took place in 2016. The primary election took place on June 7, 2016, and the general election was held on November 8, 2016. The candidate filing deadline was March 18, 2016.

Incumbent John Forbes defeated Scott Reed in the Iowa House of Representatives District 40 general election.[3][4]

Iowa House of Representatives, District 40 General Election, 2016
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Democratic Green check mark transparent.png John Forbes Incumbent 56.85% 9,660
     Republican Scott Reed 43.15% 7,332
Total Votes 16,992
Source: Iowa Secretary of State


Incumbent John Forbes ran unopposed in the Iowa House of Representatives District 40 Democratic primary.[5][6]

Iowa House of Representatives, District 40 Democratic Primary, 2016
Party Candidate
    Democratic Green check mark transparent.png John Forbes Incumbent (unopposed)


Scott Reed defeated Eric South in the Iowa House of Representatives District 40 Republican primary.[5][6]

Iowa House of Representatives, District 40 Republican Primary, 2016
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Republican Green check mark transparent.png Scott Reed 75.30% 314
     Republican Eric South 24.70% 103
Total Votes 417


2014

See also: Iowa House of Representatives elections, 2014

Elections for the Iowa House of Representatives took place in 2014. A primary election took place on June 3, 2014. The general election was held on November 4, 2014. The signature filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in this election was March 14, 2014. Incumbent John Forbes was unopposed in the Democratic primary and faced Ronda Bern (R) in the general election. Bern filed to run on July 1, 2014.[7][8][9] Incumbent Forbes defeated Bern in the general election.[10]

Iowa House of Representatives District 40, General Election, 2014
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Democratic Green check mark transparent.pngJohn Forbes Incumbent 55.5% 7,219
     Republican Ronda Bern 44.5% 5,782
Total Votes 13,001

2012

See also: Iowa House of Representatives elections, 2012

Forbes ran in the 2012 election for Iowa House of Representatives District 40. He ran unopposed in the Democratic primary on June 5, 2012, and defeated Mike Brown (R) in the general election on November 6, 2012. Incumbent Lance Horbach (R) did not seek re-election.[11][12]

Iowa House of Representatives, District 40, General Election, 2012
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Democratic Green check mark transparent.pngJohn Forbes 53.1% 9,113
     Republican Mike Brown 46.9% 8,044
Total Votes 17,157

Campaign themes

2022

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

John Forbes did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.

2020

John Forbes did not complete Ballotpedia's 2020 Candidate Connection survey.

2014

Forbes' website highlighted the following campaign themes:[13]

“ My focus in the Iowa legislature is on job creation, the environment, access to healthcare - including mental health services, quality education and veterans affairs.[14] ”

Campaign finance summary

Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.

John Forbes campaign contribution history
YearOfficeStatusContributionsExpenditures
2022Iowa House of Representatives District 44Won general$49,352 $49,424
2020Iowa House of Representatives District 40Won general$73,230 N/A**
2018Iowa House of Representatives District 40Won general$65,038 N/A**
2016Iowa House of Representatives, District 40Won $71,584 N/A**
2014Iowa House of Representatives, District 40Won $81,645 N/A**
2012Iowa State House, District 40Won $130,321 N/A**
** Data on expenditures is not available for this election cycle
Note: Totals above reflect only available data.

Personal

Note: Please contact us if the personal information below requires an update.
Forbes and his wife, Cindy, have two children.[15]

Scorecards

See also: State legislative scorecards and State legislative scorecards in Iowa

A scorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.

Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.

Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states.  To contribute to the list of Iowa scorecards, email suggestions to editor@ballotpedia.org.


2024

In 2024, the Iowa State Legislature was in session from January 8 to April 20.

Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to economic issues.
Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to labor issues.
Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to business issues.


2023


2022


2021


2020


2019


2018


2017


2016


2015


2014


2013


See also

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External links

Personal

  • Facebook
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    		•

    Footnotes

    1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 The Iowa Legislature, "John Forbes - All Years," accessed May 13, 2023
    2. ↑ LinkedIn, "John Forbes," accessed May 13, 2023
    3. ↑ Iowa Secretary of State, "General Candidate List, 2016," accessed August 24, 2016
    4. ↑ Iowa Secretary of State, "2016 General Election Canvass Summary," accessed December 16, 2016
    5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Iowa Secretary of State, "Candidate Listing by Office," March 21, 2016
    6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Iowa Secretary of State, "2016 Primary Election Canvass Summary," accessed August 22, 2016
    7. ↑ Iowa Secretary of State, "Official primary election candidate list," accessed March 18, 2014
    8. ↑ Iowa Secretary of State, "Official primary election results," accessed June 30, 2014
    9. ↑ Iowa Secretary of State, "Official general election candidate list," accessed July 7, 2014
    10. ↑ Iowa Secretary of State, "Official general election results," accessed December 1, 2014
    11. ↑ Iowa Secretary of State, "Official Primary Results," accessed October 1, 2014
    12. ↑ Iowa Department of Elections, "2012 Primary Candidates," accessed April 23, 2012
    13. ↑ forbes4iowahouse.com, "Issues," accessed September 26, 2014
    14. ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
    15. ↑ forbes4iowahouse.com, "Official Campaign Website," accessed April 8, 2014
    16. ↑ ACLU Iowa, "Legislative Report & Civil Liberties Scorecard," accessed July 11, 2017
    17. ↑ ACLU of Iowa, "Legislative Report & Civil Liberties Scorecard," accessed July 11, 2017

    Political offices
    Preceded by
    Kenan Judge (D)     		Iowa House of Representatives District 44
    2023-2025    		 Succeeded by
    Larry McBurney (D)
    Preceded by
    -     		Iowa House of Representatives District 40
    2013-2023    		 Succeeded by
    Bill Gustoff (R)


    Current members of the Iowa House of Representatives
    Leadership
    Majority Leader:Bobby Kaufmann
    Representatives
    District 1
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    Vacant
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    Ann Meyer (R)
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    Tom Moore (R)
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    Hans Wilz (R)
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    Chad Behn (R)
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    Gary Mohr (R)
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    Republican Party (66)
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    Vacancies (1)


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