Steve King grew up in a law enforcement family in Storm Lake, Iowa. He attended Denison Community High School, where he met Marilyn Kelly, whom he married in 1972. They have lived in Kiron for 28 years and are members of St. Martin’s Church in Odebolt. Steve and Marilyn have three grown sons and two grandchildren.
King studied math and science at Northwest Missouri State University. He started King Construction in 1975 and built the business up from one bulldozer. He brings valuable knowledge to Congress as an agribusinessman and a small business owner for 28 years. King’s oldest son now runs the construction business.
He served in the Iowa State Senate for six years where he assumed roles as Chairman of the State Government Committee and Vice Chairman of the Oversight Budget Subcommittee. He was a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Judiciary Committee, Business and Labor Committee and the Commerce Committees. He worked in the State Senate to successfully eliminate the inheritance tax, enforce workplace drug testing, enforce parenting rights, including parental notification of abortion, pass tax cuts for working Iowans, and pass the law that made English the official language in Iowa.
King was elected to Congress in 2002 to represent Iowa’s new fifth congressional district. He brings the concerns and ideas from people of the fifth district with him to work on the Agriculture Committee. He has long been dedicated to adding value as close to the corn stalk and bean stubble as possible, as many times as possible. The Fifth District ranks first in the nation for hogs and pigs and is one of the most productive areas in the nation for renewable fuels. King’s very first bill in Congress was an expansion of a tax credit to small ethanol and biodiesel producers. His language was included in the Energy Users Act of 2005, which President George W. Bush recently signed into law.
As 97% of Iowa’s businesses are small business, King received a special waiver to serve on the House Small Business Committee so he could work to restrict government regulations that impede the growth of business and jobs.
King is also a member of the House Judiciary Committee, where he sits on the Constitution Subcommittee and is the top Republican on the Immigration Subcommittee. He believes the Constitution means what it says and that it should be read in light of the intent of our founding fathers. King is never caught without a copy of the Constitution in his coat pocket.
King also chairs the Conservative Opportunity Society, a powerful and legendary House caucus that is best known for energizing Republicans to regain the majority of the House of Representatives in 1994.