Mark Chelgren

Chelgren announced in March 2018 that he would not be a candidate for reelection in 2018.

Chelgren announced in March 2018 that he would not be a candidate for reelection in 2018.

As of February 2017, Chelgren's Iowa State Legislature biography lists his education as an A.S. at Riverside Community College and says he attended "University of California" [at Riverside]. His Senate biography used to indicate that he "has a degree in business management from Forbco Management school and attended the University of California at Riverside majoring in astro-physics, geo-physics and mathematics."

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.

Prior to February 2017, a Republican Party site's biography indicated he attended the University of California, Riverside for three years. When the university's spokesman indicated that he had attended for one school year, 1992 to 1993, Chelgren told NBC that he had attended University of California, Riverside for one year, and had earned an associate degree in science from Riverside Community College after two years of attendance. When asked if he mischaracterized his educational background, Chelgren said, "No, I did not."

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

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)".

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."

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

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 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". Chelgren has a patent for a wheelchair shock absorber that is assigned to his company FrogLegs Incorporated and has filed for two patents with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (patent applications #20100123296 and #20140100490). A patent has not been issued for either application.

Mark Chelgren (born January 21, 1968) is an American politician who served in the Iowa Senate. He is a member of the Republican Party. He was elected to the Iowa Senate in 2010 and re-elected in 2014. He represented District 41.

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 manager of a Sizzler restaurant in Torrance, California.