Ray Zirkelbach

Ray Zirkelbach (born October 20, 1978) is a former state legislator. He served in the Iowa House of Representatives, representing the 31st District, from 2005 to 2011. He was deployed in Iraq as an Iowa National Guard sergeant, in the First Battalion of the 133rd Infantry. He works as a corrections officer at Anamosa State Penitentiary. He holds a BA from the University of Wyoming's Administration and Justice Program.

He did not sit in the 2006 or 2007 session of the Iowa House, because he was on active duty with the Iowa National Guard in Iraq.

During his last term in the Iowa House, he was Chair of the Veterans Affair Committee and a member of the Agriculture, Labor, and Public Safety committees, as well as of the Justice Systems Appropriations subcommittee.

Electoral history
Zirkelbach was first elected to the Iowa House in 2004 with 8,712 votes, defeating incumbent Republican opponent Gene A. Mantemach. He was re-elected in 2006 with 8,447 votes, running unopposed. He was reelected in 2008 with 9,818 votes, defeating Republican opponent Dena Himes in a campaign that focused on ethanol, wind energy, and veterans affairs.

Zirkelbach endorsed U.S. Senator Christopher Dodd in the 2008 Democratic presidential primaries. He proposed a ban on the sale of imported flags (U.S. flag or Iowa state flag) in Iowa. He lost his bid for re-election in 2010 with 5,431 votes, losing to Republican Lee Hein.

* incumbent