(Radio Iowa) – Senate Majority Leader Jack Whitver has delivered his first speech in the Iowa Capitol after announcing last May that he was undergoing treatment for a brain tumor. “The news recently has been encouraging. The tumor is getting smaller,” Whitver said. “I still have a long ways to go before the tumor is behind me, but I will continue to battle it with everything I have.”

Whitver has led Senate Republicans since 2018 and Republican senators re-elected him as their leader in November. In December, a spokesman for Whitver said multiple scans this fall showed the tumor was shrinking and — after completing radiation treatments — Whitver was undergoing a series of drug therapy treatments. During an interview with Radio Iowa last month, Whitver thanked Iowans who’ve sent him well wishes.

He expanded on those sentiments yesterday (Monday) in a speech on the floor of the Iowa Senate. “I begin my speech today with a thank you to each person in this room and across this state who has taken time out of their day to say a prayer for me, offer a kind word or support me and my family as I continue to battle this brain tumor,” Whitver said. “…I appreciate your continued prayers and support as I keep walking down this path,” Whitver said. “My wife Rachel, my kids…and my mother-in-law…they’re all here as well and I thank them for their love and support over a very difficult year.”

Senator Jack Whitver (official photo)

Whitver acknowledged the standing ovation that followed, but cut it off after half a minute — telling the Senate it was time to get to work. Whitver, a lawyer and small business owner who grew up in Grinnell and played football at Iowa State, is 44 years old. He’s been a state senator for the past 14 years.