A Republican who was the youngest state legislator in Iowa history when he was sworn into office is running for the U.S. House. 28-year-old Joe Mitchell of Clear Lake served for the past eight months in the Trump Administration, most recently as regional director of the federal agency focus on housing.
Iowa’s second district is currently represented by Republican Congresswoman Ashley Hinson of Marion, who is running for the U-S Senate in 2026. After Trump won the 2024 election, Mitchell worked on the president’s transition team and he worked in the Federal Housing Finance Agency before his appointment in the Department of Housing and Urban Development this year.
Mitchell has worked on housing projects in places like Dyersville, Grinnell and Clear Lake. Mitchell, who was born in 1997, is part of Generation Z and nearly four years ago he founded a national non-profit called Run GenZ to encourage young conservatives to run for state and local office. Mitchell says his generation deserves a seat at the negotiating table in congress.
Mitchell holds a degree in business administration from Drake University and this past spring he was a visiting fellow at the Institute of Politics at Harvard University. Mitchell worked alongside Democrats and other Republicans, including the general counsel for the National Republican Congressional Committee.
Mitchell is a native of Wayland, in southeast Iowa, and represented the area in the Iowa House for four years.
Mitchell is likely to face a GOP primary in the second congressional district and three Democrats have announced they are running in the district, which includes 22 counties in the northeast portion of the state and includes the cities of Mason City, Cedar Rapids, Dubuque and Waterloo.
