Iowa House of Representatives

Randall Rainer was born in May 1957 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. He attended grade school in Fayette, Iowa, and Pine Island, Minn. He also attended school in Leon, Iowa, and in 1975 he graduated with honors from Adel/Desoto High School in Adel, Iowa. In school, Randall was active in sports and music, winning the John Phillip Sousa Award of Excellence. He was also involved in speech, debate and drama, where he was selected his school’s “Best Actor” his senior year. Randall was an Eagle Scout, a Brotherhood Member in the Order of the Arrow and a God and Country award recipient.

In 1974, Randall went on a summer orchestra tour of Europe, having been selected to an elite group known as the “International Music Camp European Tour Band,” which selects only one honoree from each of the 50 states. The camp is located in the Peace Gardens in Harmony, N.D.

Randall attended the University of Iowa and majored in psychology, but his interests also included membership in the Hawkeye Marching Band, as well as languages and political studies. A family illness required Randall to leave the university just before graduating, when he lacked only 12 hours of general studies, having completed all required courses in his major field.

Randall has worn a blue collar, working for Reliable Electric in Chicago, assembling telephone circuitry units, and for Winnebago Industries in Forest City. He worked in commodities distribution, as a commercial driver for CFI of Joplin, Mo., which has taken him to 47 of the 48 contiguous states. But the majority of Randall’s career has been spent in business. He has worked as a business manager and consultant for Hasser Management of Topeka, Kan., and as a business manager for El Kram Inc. of Ankeny, before promotion to operations supervisor for Atherton and Murphy of Tulsa, Okla., responsible for their business franchise operations in southern Arkansas. Randall has owned and operated several businesses, including RCS, a business consultant service, before retiring in 2000.

In a special election in 2006, Randall was elected mayor of Thornton, Iowa, were he served until 2008.

In 2004, Randall and his wife, Nancy, were married, and together they have six grown children and five grandchildren. Nancy works for Iowan’s owned K & H Cooperative Oil Company as manager of Classic Stop in Thornton. The Rainers belong to numerous community groups, and attend the St. Paul Evangelical Lutheran Church in Thornton.

Randall is a licensed private pilot, having earned his license in 1987. He is currently an American Red Cross “first responder” volunteer.