Dennis M. Cohoon (born March 29, 1953) is an American politician who served as an Iowa State Representative from 1987 to 2023 representing several different seats in Burlington.

Education Cohoon graduated from Burlington High School in 1971. After graduating high school, he attended Southeastern Community College where he earned an associate degree in business. He received his BA in business administration and business education with minors in special education and psychology from Iowa Wesleyan College. He has also done graduate work in special education at the University of Iowa.

Career From 1973 to 1979 Cohoon served in the Iowa Army National Guard. In 1978, he began teaching in the Burlington School District. He spent 32 years teaching special education in the Burlington School District until retiring in 2010.

Cohoon served on several committees in the Iowa House - the Appropriations committee; the Education committee; the Local Government committee; and the Transportation committee. He also served as chair of the Transportation, Infrastructure, and Capitals Appropriations Subcommittee.

Cohoon was re-elected in 2006 with 7,201 votes, running unopposed.

Cohoon endorsed North Carolina Senator John Edwards for president in 2004.

Cohoon endorsed Joe Biden for president in the 2008 and 2020 Democratic primaries. Following the suspension of Biden's campaign in January 2008, Cohoon endorsed Barack Obama for president.

Personal life Dennis Cohoon has collected Presidential memorabilia such as buttons, stamps, cards, and busts since he was seven years old. He is also a fan of University of Iowa Hawkeye basketball and the New York Yankees.

Cohoon is the son of Meril, a railroad worker and Marie Cohoon, a homemaker. He has two sisters, Judy and Sally. He has been married to his wife Sue, a math teacher, since 1998 and together they have four step children.

Organizations

Past memberships Burlington Education Association Geode Education Association Iowa State Education Association

Current memberships Des Moines County Democratic Central Committee First Christian Church

Electoral history Election results of Dennis Cohoon YearOfficeDistrictElectionPartyVotes%OpponentPartyVotes%OpponentPartyVotes%OpponentPartyVotes%1986Iowa House of Representatives60PrimaryD 1,079 100.00%1986Iowa House of Representatives60GeneralD 4,353 56.97% Steven R. ArnoldR 3,288 43.031988Iowa House of Representatives60PrimaryD 1,579 100.00%1988Iowa House of Representatives60GeneralD 7,064 62.82% Dianne LerudR 4,180 37.18%1990Iowa House of Representatives60PrimaryD 1,439 100.00%1990Iowa House of Representatives60GeneralD 5,630 62.86% Dianne K. LerudR 3,325 37.13% Write-insW-I 1 0.01%1992Iowa House of Representatives100PrimaryD 874 100.00%1992Iowa House of Representatives100GeneralD 7,615 64.43% Sharon Marlow-BennettR 4,204 35.57%1994Iowa House of Representatives 100GeneralD 1,125 100.00%1994Iowa House of Representatives 100GeneralD 5,299 100.00%1996Iowa House of Representatives100PrimaryD 1,888 100.00%1996Iowa House of Representatives 100GeneralD 7,226 99.99% Write-insW-I 1 0.01%1998Iowa House of Representatives100PrimaryD 1,483 100.00%1998Iowa House of Representatives 100GeneralD 5,807 100.00%2000Iowa House of Representatives100PrimaryD 2,536 99.80% Write-insW-I 5 0.20%2000Iowa House of Representatives100GeneralD 7,673 64.90% Matthew MurrayR 4,145 35.06% Write-insW-I 5 0.04%2002Iowa House of Representatives88PrimaryD 1,050 99.81% Write-insW-I 2 0.19%2002Iowa House of Representatives88GeneralD 7,540 98.92% Write-insW-I 82 1.08%2004Iowa House of Representatives88PrimaryD 1,470 99.53% Write-insW-I 7 0.47%2004Iowa House of Representatives88GeneralD 10,541 99.15% Write-insW-I 90 0.85%2006Iowa House of Representatives88PrimaryD 1,681 99.23% Write-insW-I 13 0.77%2006Iowa House of Representatives88GeneralD 7,201 99.31% Write-insW-I 50 0.69%2008Iowa House of Representatives88PrimaryD 1,558 99.62% Write-insW-I 6 0.38%2008Iowa House of Representatives88GeneralD 10,248 73.65% Write-insW-I 173 1.31%2010Iowa House of Representatives88PrimaryD 512 81.92% Write-insW-I 2 0.32%2010Iowa House of Representatives 88GeneralD 5,702 56.75% Dave SelmonR 4,022 40.03% Write-insW-I 7 0.07%2012Iowa House of Representatives 87PrimaryD 867 83.29% Write-insW-I 6 0.58%2012Iowa House of Representatives 87GeneralD 6,898 45.69% Dan CahillIndependent 5,234 34.67% Andrew WilsonR 2,489 16.49% Write-insW-I 6 0.40%2014Iowa House of Representatives 87PrimaryD 557 80.96% Write-insW-I 2 0.29%2014Iowa House of Representatives 87GeneralD 6,786 68.94% Write-insW-I 157 1.60%2016Iowa House of Representatives 87PrimaryD 603 86.89% Write-insW-I 6 0.86%2016Iowa House of Representatives 87GeneralD 9,333 67.84% Write-insW-I 196 1.42%2018Iowa House of Representatives 87PrimaryD 1,344 84.79% Write-insW-I 8 0.50%2018Iowa House of Representatives 87GeneralD 6,010 55.87% Tim GoodwinR 4,596 42.73% Write-insW-I 7 0.07%2020Iowa House of Representatives 87PrimaryD 2,869 93.79% Write-insW-I 13 0.42%2020Iowa House of Representatives 87GeneralD 9,992 70.62% Write-insW-I 331 2.34%2022Iowa House of Representatives 99PrimaryD 1,165 93.35% Write-insW-I 5 0.40%2022Iowa House of Representatives 99GeneralD 5,007 46.99% Matt RinkerR 5,468 51.31% Write-insW-I 26 0.24%

References

External links Representative Dennis Cohoon official Iowa General Assembly site Dennis Cohoon State Representative official constituency site