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A senior Iowa state senator wants to require state universities and colleges to consider a job candidates political affiliation during the hiring process, in order to create more partisan balance among faculty.

The senator, Mark Chelgren (R), filed legislation over the weekend that would require Iowas state board of regents to consider a potential faculty members party during the hiring process. If a schools faculty tilts toward one of the two major parties by more than a 10 percentage-point margin, the school would be prohibited from hiring any more members of that party.

Every year, Iowas chief elections official would be required to submit voter registration records to the board of regents.

Opponents of the measure criticized it as a way to block registered Democrats from securing jobs at the University of Iowa, Iowa State and other institutions.

Chelgrens proposal would not count those who register to vote without declaring a party affiliation. He told the Des Moines Register that the loophole would allow potential instructors to change their affiliation in order to get a job.

Chelgren, the chairman of the state Senate Appropriations Committee, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

A similar measure died in North Carolinas state legislature on Monday. That version would have required senior professors within the University of North Carolina system to reflect the ideological balance of Tar Heel voters.

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Iowa Republican wants to require 'partisan balance' at universities - The Hill