Iowa Senate, District 31 Candidate, Timi Brown-Powers
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General Election: Tuesday, November 3, 2026
Timi Brown-Powers was born in 1967 on Beale Air Force Base in California and raised in the Beaverdale neighborhood of Des Moines, where her father worked at the Firestone plant and her mother ran a business out of their home while also working for the Des Moines public schools. Her experiences with her grandmother, who was paraplegic, led her to start volunteering with programs supporting students with disabilities — an early influence that would shape her career.
Timi graduated from Herbert Hoover High School in Des Moines and attended Des Moines Area Community College before moving to Waterloo to attend the University of Northern Iowa, where she earned her degree in therapeutic recreation. While a student, she worked as a certified nursing assistant, and she went on to spend more than 25 years as a therapist at Covenant Medical Center in Waterloo.
Timi entered elected office in 2014, when she announced her candidacy for the Iowa House at the Black Hawk County Democratic Convention, going on to win the seat vacated by Anesa Kajtazovic. She has represented Waterloo in the Iowa House ever since, most recently as the representative for District 61, building a reputation over more than a decade in Des Moines as a steady, experienced voice for the Cedar Valley.
In 2026, with longtime Senator Bill Dotzler moving to run for Black Hawk County Supervisor, Timi is stepping up to run for his old seat, Iowa Senate District 31 — bringing more than a decade of House experience with her into a bid for the upper chamber.
Fun facts: Timi spent more than 25 years as a therapist at Covenant Medical Center in Waterloo before her time in the legislature. She's represented Waterloo in the Iowa House since 2014, one of the longer continuous tenures of any Black Hawk County legislator.
After more than a decade in the Iowa House, Timi Brown-Powers has built her legislative career around education, health care, and water quality — issues she says matter to every part of Senate District 31, regardless of zip code.
Public education. Timi has consistently fought for public school funding and against the diversion of taxpayer dollars into private school voucher programs, arguing that every child in Waterloo deserves access to a fully funded public education, regardless of what neighborhood they grow up in.
Health care. Drawing on her 25-plus years working as a therapist at Covenant Medical Center, Timi has prioritized expanding access to health care and mental health services, and has pushed to pass legislation supporting Iowans dealing with serious illness.
Water quality and the environment. Timi has been a consistent advocate for improving Iowa's water quality, an issue she's said affects families in every part of her district, from the northwest corner of Waterloo to the southeastern edge of Gilbertville.
Constituent-focused representation. Timi has said her priorities don't change based on which part of the district she's talking to — whether it's the education their children receive, the quality of their water, or how upcoming Medicaid changes will affect their families, she treats every corner of the district the same.
A record of independence. After more than a decade representing a competitive Waterloo-area seat, Timi has built a reputation for being accessible and responsive to constituents across party lines — exactly the kind of profile Black Hawk County Democrats are counting on as she moves up to run for the state Senate.
Senate District 31 covers Waterloo and the surrounding Black Hawk County communities — the same territory Bill Dotzler represented for nearly 30 years. Timi Brown-Powers' move from the House to the Senate keeps that seat, and its outsized importance to local Black Hawk County politics, in experienced hands.
Continuity in a critical seat. Timi brings more than a decade of Iowa House experience into the Senate race, giving Black Hawk County Democrats a candidate who already has deep relationships across the district and a proven record of winning tough Waterloo-area elections.
**Protecting Democratic ground in a Republican-supermajority legislature.** With Republicans holding commanding majorities in both chambers of the Iowa Legislature, every Democratic Senate seat that survives matters disproportionately — not just as a vote, but as a guarantee that Black Hawk County's specific needs as a mid-sized industrial city continue to get raised on the Senate floor.
Opening up House District 61. Timi's move to the Senate opens up her old House seat, creating a ripple effect that's brought a new generation of Black Hawk County Democrats — including software engineer Vincent Collis — into the pipeline for local office.
Anchoring the local ticket in a competitive year. With Rob Sand running a competitive statewide race for governor and Josh Turek and Lindsay James both running competitive federal races that touch Black Hawk County, having an experienced, well-known Democrat like Timi at the state Senate level helps anchor turnout across the county's entire ticket.