Hawkeye Reporter

U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) has announced changes in his Iowa staff leadership, promoting Matt Rector to State Director and Penny Vacek to Deputy State Director. The appointments will take effect on September 2, following the retirement of Carol Olson, who has served as Grassley’s State Director since 2018.

“I’m very grateful for Carol’s contributions and her service to the people of Iowa. Under her leadership, my office has strengthened our constituent services to Iowans and increased our outreach to communities across the state,” Grassley said. “Matt and Penny have served as hardworking members of my staff for many years, and their commitment has been evident throughout their time as Regional Directors in Waterloo and Davenport, respectively. They are well suited to step into these new roles to work on behalf of Iowans. I’m thankful for the talented public servants on my staff who help me represent Iowans in Washington.”

Matt Rector is a native of Bremer County and began working in Grassley’s office in 2018 as a Regional Director covering North Central Iowa from Waterloo. His responsibilities included community outreach with local governments, businesses, and chambers of commerce. Before joining Grassley’s team, he worked as an agronomy specialist in production agriculture and as a financial advisor at Thrivent Financial. He is also a sixth-generation Iowa farmer.

Penny Vacek lives in Oxford Junction and started with Grassley’s office as a constituent services specialist in 1992 before becoming Regional Director for Southeastern Iowa based in Davenport in 1999. Over more than thirty years representing Grassley, she has met regularly with constituents, businesses, and leaders at various levels of government.

Carol Olson resides in Des Moines and has worked both in Washington D.C. and Iowa offices for Grassley. From 1987 to 1991 she was a Legislative Assistant focusing on education, banking, and social services policy issues before returning to serve again as State Director starting in 2018. Between those periods she held positions including Deputy Secretary of State under Paul Pate, Staff Director at the Iowa State Senate, and Manager of Community Services at Thrivent Financial.

The role of State Director involves overseeing all Iowa-based staff for Senator Grassley—including constituent service specialists who assist residents with federal agencies—and outreach staff who engage directly with communities across the state through offices located in Cedar Rapids, Council Bluffs, Davenport, Des Moines, Sioux City, and Waterloo.

Grassley's senior leadership team based in Washington remains unchanged: Jennifer Davis serves as Chief of Staff; Penne Barton is Deputy Chief of Staff; James Rice is Legislative Director; Clare Slattery is Communications Director; Kolan Davis continues as Staff Director for the Senate Judiciary Committee where Grassley is chairman; Rita Lari serves as Deputy Staff Director.