Aime Wichtendahl is the first openly trans woman elected to government in the State of Iowa. She was first elected to the Hiawatha City Council in 2015, and was reelected without opposition in 2019 and 2023. She became the first transgender person elected to the Iowa Legislature, representing District 80, which includes Northeast Cedar Rapids and the cities of Robins and Hiawatha, in the 2024 election. During the 91st General Assembly, she spoke passionately in defense of trans rights and in opposition to the removal of gender identity from the Iowa Civil Rights Act. She is the ranking member of the House Economic Growth and Technology Committee and serves on the Ways & Means, Judiciary, Veterans, and Local Government Committees.
Ms. Wichtendahl is also the author of the 2011 novel “The Butterfly and the Flame,” which was a Lambda Literary Finalist in 2012. She graduated from Mount Mercy College, now University, in 2005. In her spare time, Ms. Wichtendahl spends time with her family and writes eclectic sci-fi stories.