DES MOINES, Iowa – The Republican Party of Polk County, Iowa’s largest county, elected its first female chair on Tuesday night at its regular Central Committee meeting. Gloria Mazza of Clive was elected to lead the Party replacing Nick Van Patten. Also elected were Bonnie Hall of Ankeny as Co-Chair; Joe Heuertz of Johnston as Secretary, and Bryan Kraber of Des Moines as Treasurer.
One hundred voting members of the county party’s central committee heard brief speeches from several candidates sharing how they would fulfill the county party’s mission of identifying, recruiting, and electing more Republicans throughout the predominantly Democrat county.
Republicans regained two Iowa House seats in 2020 that were lost in Ankeny and Johnston in 2018. However, there is still a significant gap in voter registration with Democrats having more than 47,000 more registered voters than Republicans in Polk County.
Mazza is the former Iowa Federation of Republican Women President, the current president of the Capitol Region Republican Women, and has volunteered on numerous campaigns at the national, state, and local levels. Her involvement started in 2012 and since then, has served in many volunteer capacities. She rose through the ranks, serving two years as the Executive Director of the Republican Party of Polk County (2014-16). Mazza is retired and resides with her husband, Tom, in Clive.
