Alex and Molly began dating in 2016 while working in Sen. Charles E. Grassley’s D.C. office. Molly says she was scared of the priest because they weren’t using dating sites. Attempted to share false information.
But the pastor paused for a moment before clarifying what kind of site he was referring to. Grassley’s office. ”
Since Mr. Grassley, an Iowa Republican, was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1980, his Washington, D.C., and Iowa offices have become hotspots for matchmaking. After Chief of Staff Grassley married a former legislative correspondent in Iowa on Saturday, Grassley said 20 couples who started dating in his office have married.
Grassley, 90, has been married for 69 years. For several years, he told The Washington Post that he often didn’t know his employees were dating until they announced their marriage. Although he can’t pinpoint the reason for so many couples in his office, he said many of his employees are from Iowa and share similar values and religious beliefs.
Moreover, his employees spend most of the day at work, so they have plenty of time to spend with each other.
“When you get married, you’re considered part of Team Grassley,” he said. “…I’m not leaving the team.”
Grassley said the first couple in his office met during the 1980 Senate campaign. Since then, more people are getting married every few years, he said. Mr. Grassley has attended about five employee weddings, although he declines some invitations due to scheduling conflicts, a spokesman for Mr. Grassley said.
Mr. Grassley, the longest-serving Republican senator in U.S. history, boasted that his office had only seen one divorce.
Mr. Grassley’s firm is not alone in producing double-digit marriage numbers. Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D.Y.) told Roll Call in 2016 that 13 couples in his office were married.
“They work so hard that they don’t have a chance to meet anyone,” Schumer told the news outlet.
Kathy Newbel Kovarik and Kurt Kovarik told the Post they met at Grassley’s D.C. office in the summer of 1998. Kathy, from Le Mars, Iowa, just joined the company as an intern, and Kurt, from Decorah, Iowa, was a mail coordinator. They joked about whether west or east Iowa was a better place to live and blossomed into close friends.
In May 1999, Kurt won two tickets to see David Letterman live in New York. Since I only knew about 20 people in DC that I worked with and had a car, I invited Kathy. But the weekend trip turned into a first date. They watched Letterman interview singer Harry Connick Jr. and saw “Rent” on Broadway.
At that point, Kathy and Kurt were both legislative correspondents and were in adjoining cubicles. Since they were unaware of the agency’s relationship policy, they tried to hide that they were dating.
But in May 2000, Kathy and Kurt were on a plane to attend Kurt’s friend’s wedding in Iowa. They ran into Grassley at Reagan National Airport, and Kurt said Grassley was confused as to why Kathy and Kurt were together.
Kurt said Grassley found out the two were dating and called his press secretary to break the news.
“He was so excited that he was the first to discover it,” Kurt said.
Kathy and Kurt continued to sit next to each other when she was promoted to legislative assistant in 2001. The following year, Grassley’s wife Barbara approached Kathy’s desk. According to her girlfriend, Kurt, who was sitting in the cubicle next to her, Barbara joked to Kathy that she needed to get engaged or break up. When Kurt proposed later that year, Kathy said Barbara took credit for it.
The newlyweds only took one day off from work the week after their October 2003 wedding in Le Mars, Iowa. They enjoyed working together, but were also jealous when one had the opportunity to speak with Grassley and the other did not.
Kathy, 47, and Kurt, 48, have three children, daughters ages 14 and 12, and an eight-year-old son. Their colleagues often listened to their discussions about what to eat for dinner and who would pick up the kids from school.
However, they said it was not unusual and there were two other couples in the office. Mr. Grassley also left behind a legislative memo with tips on how to make your marriage last.
Kathy and Kurt left for new jobs in 2017 and 2018, respectively. By then, many more couples were born.
Alex Severn, of Council Bluffs, Iowa, and Molly Severn, of Huxley, Iowa, began dating in 2016 while working as staff assistants in Grassley’s D.C. office. In their free time, they bonded over cheering at Iowa State football game parties, playing on the office softball team, and having after-work drinks at Hamilton’s Bar & Grill and the Capitol Lounge. Ta. Their first date took place at Cupps & Company in the basement of the Russell Senate Office Building.
Alex and Molly didn’t want their co-workers to know they were dating, but they found excuses to see each other. Alex worked at the front desk and Molly often said she needed to receive a Senate floor pass just to see him. Grassley doesn’t know when, but he thinks he realized it soon after their relationship started.
Alex and Molly left the office in 2017 and 2018, respectively, but that didn’t stop them from forming friendships with their co-workers. In October 2020, he invited nearly all of his colleagues to a wedding at Huxley’s church, during which the pastor joked that Grassley’s office was a dating site.
Molly said she and Alex attended another wedding of a former colleague in May 2022. Two other former colleagues, chief of staff Jennifer Hynes and former legislative correspondent Nick Davis, began dating after Alex and Molly took new jobs in Iowa. Alex, now 30, and Molly, 31, attended a wedding Saturday in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where three couples from Grassley’s office gathered. Mr. Grassley did not attend Mr. Kovalik and Mr. Severn’s wedding, but he did attend the most recent ceremony.
Molly said if the office is anything like what they experienced a few years ago, their 21st wedding might not be far away.
“There’s still a chance for young Iowans and non-Iowans to be in that office and find a sense of community, and maybe even find a future spouse,” Morey said.