| Birthname: | Herschel Cellel Loveless |
| Herschel Loveless | |
| Order: | 34th Governor of Iowa |
| Term Start1: | January 17, 1957 |
| Term End1: | January 12, 1961 |
| Lieutenant1: | William H. Nicholas Edward J. McManus |
| Predecessor1: | Leo Hoegh |
| Successor1: | Norman A. Erbe |
| Birth Date: | 5 May 1911 |
| Birth Place: | near Fremont, Iowa, U.S. |
| Death Place: | Winchester, Virginia, U.S. |
| Restingplace: | Ottumwa Cemetery Ottumwa, Iowa[1] |
| Party: | Democratic |
| Spouse: | Amelia R. Howard |
| Children: | 2[2] |
| Order2: | Mayor of Ottumwa |
| Term Start2: | 1949 |
| Term End2: | 1953 |
Herschel Cellel Loveless (May 5, 1911May 4, 1989) was an American politician who served as the 34th Governor of Iowa, from 1957 to 1961. He was also mayor of Ottumwa, Iowa.[3] He was born in 1911 in Hedrick, Iowa and died in 1989 in Winchester, Virginia.[4]
Loveless graduated from Ottumwa High School in 1927.
When elected governor in 1956, Loveless was only the fourth Democrat to win Iowa's gubernatorial seat since the Civil War. His ties to Iowa's growing labor movement and the state's urbanization helped to secure his victories in 1956 and 1958. He was considered less militant than his opponents. During his years as governor, Loveless focused on issues such as flood control, mental health, and social services. He also promoted reapportionment to help redress the imbalance in rural-versus-urban representation in the state legislature. Loveless helped to align Iowa's Democratic Party more closely with its national counterpart.
He died of lung cancer on May 4, 1989, one day before his 78th birthday.[4]