Mark Chelgren

Eric Mark Chelgren (born January 21, 1968) is an American politician. A member of the Republican Party, he was elected to represent District 41 in the Iowa Senate in 2010 and re-elected in 2014.

He has drawn controversy for proposing legislation that would cap the percentage difference in political parties of professors and instructors that state universities can hire. He also drew controversy for his false claim of having a "business degree" from the "Forbco Management School," which was in fact a manager training course run by a company that operated Sizzler restaurants in southern California.

Early life Chelgren was born in Ross, California, on January 21, 1968. He grew up in Huntington Beach, and graduated from Huntington Beach High School in 1986. At the start of his career, Chelgren's employment included managing a Sizzler restaurant in Torrance, California.

Business In the 1990s, Chelgren relocated to Iowa, and settled in Vinton. The Iowa Senate Republicans organization states that "Senator Chelgren is an entrepreneur with multiple patents, primarily focused in health care".

Education As of February 2017, Chelgren's Iowa State Legislature biography

Chelgren's education became an issue in 2017 when he proposed a bill to quiz prospective university professors on their political affiliation, and enact a percentage system to ensure that Iowa's institutions of higher learning did not hire what he deemed an inappropriately high percentage of Democrats and liberals. In defending his proposed legislation, Chelgren claimed to have witnessed what he termed excessive liberal advocacy among the professors of the college he attended. Subsequent investigation of his educational background called this claim into question. In February 2017, news accounts revealed that Forbco Management was not an accredited school that awarded degrees but was a company "which ran Sizzler restaurants and a few other different restaurants." Chelgren worked for Forbco as an assistant manager at a Sizzler restaurant while a young adult in California and completed the 6-month course as part of his training. When asked if he mischaracterized his educational background, Chelgren said, "No, I did not."

Chelgren's biography in the Iowa Republican Party's 2014 candidate guide states that "He received his degree in Astro- and Geo-Physics at the University of California in Riverside."

In a biography from a 2015-2016 Iowa Legislature directory, he lists an associate degree from Riverside Community College and attendance at the University of California. In a 2016 legislative biography published by the Advocacy Cooperative of Des Moines, Chelgren is listed as holding a "Degree in Astrophysics and Geophysics (University of California Riverside)".

Political career In 2010, Chelgren was elected to the Iowa Senate, defeating incumbent Democrat Keith Kreiman with 9,572 to 9,582 votes. In 2011, Chelgren endorsed Michele Bachmann in the 2012 presidential election.

In 2014, Chelgren was re-elected, defeating Democrat Steve Siegel 10,331 to 9,954 votes.

In 2015, he provoked controversy when he suggested "if an undocumented person who committed a felony is deported and then tries to return to the U.S., he or she should be subject to capital punishment."

In 2016, Chelgren was a U.S. congressional candidate for Iowa's 2nd District but withdrew in March.

In 2018, Chelgren announced that he would not be a candidate for reelection that year.

In 2022, Chelgren was seeking to be elected (as a house representative instead of a state senator) to fill the vacant seat of the newly-created house district 26, however, he was defeated by Austin Harris.

Electoral history