Petricia S. "Pat" Ward (June 17, 1957[1] – October 15, 2012) was an Iowa State Senator from the 30th District. A Republican, her service in the Iowa Senate began in 2004, when she won a special election to fill the vacancy left when Mary Kramer was appointed to be U.S. Ambassador to Barbados. It ended with her death in 2012.[2] She had a B.S. in Business and Legal Studies from Central Missouri State University.
Senate career
Ward served on several committees in the Iowa Senate - the Commerce committee; the Environment and Energy Independence; the Judiciary committee; the Ways and Means committee; the Government Oversight committee, where she was the ranking member; and the Labor and Business Relations committee, where she was the ranking member.
Ward ran unopposed in the Iowa Senate District 30 Republican Primary on June 8, 2004,[3] and she took 62% of the vote in the general election November 2, 2004, defeating both Satro Narayan (Democrat) and Sean Edward Martin (Libertarian).[4]
Ward was last re-elected in 2008 with 21,842 votes, running unopposed.[5] Ward was running for re-election when she died and remained on the November 2012 ballot. At the time of her death, she was serving as the Assistant Minority Leader of the Iowa Senate.[6] As ballots for the 2012 election were already printed, she remained on the ballot for the election. State law mandated a special election be held to determine Ward's successor,[7] which was held on December 11, 2012.[8][9]
Death
On October 15, 2012, Iowa state officials announced that Ward had died at the age of 55 following a battle with breast cancer.[10]
