{"id":871,"date":"2026-07-09T18:10:33","date_gmt":"2026-07-09T18:10:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/relocationacrossamerica.com\/?p=871"},"modified":"2026-07-09T18:10:33","modified_gmt":"2026-07-09T18:10:33","slug":"anti-lobbyist-republican-benefited-from-lobbyists-for-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/relocationacrossamerica.com\/?p=871","title":{"rendered":"Anti-lobbyist Republican benefited from lobbyists for years"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Joe Mitchell, a Republican running for Congress in Iowa, has made opposing lobbyists and political insiders a cornerstone of his campaign \u2014 despite a history of hiring lobbyists to advance his interests.<\/p>\n

Read more Taylor, Travis and the cone of silence<\/a><\/p>\n

In June, Mitchell won the Republican primary for Iowa\u2019s Second District on a platform opposing\u00a0 corporate influence in elections and a campaign promising to represent Iowans who \u201chave been left behind by a broken political system that works for insiders and lobbyists.\u201d<\/p>\n

The catch is that Mitchell, a state representative and real estate developer, has benefited from and hired lobbyists to the tune of tens of thousands of dollars in the past, and even worked at a lobbying firm.<\/p>\n

In 2023, J. Mitchell Real Estate, the company that Mitchell heads, was a founding member of the Iowa Real Estate Developers Association, an industry group that helps real estate companies \u201cof all kinds to maximize profit and reduce liability.\u201d Mitchell was also named the president of the group, which was promising to \u201cfocus on policy areas like taxation, economic development incentives, deregulation and zoning at the state and local level.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Crowd demands justice for Houston man killed in ICE shooting<\/a><\/p>\n

To accomplish this deregulation, the group spent nearly $75,000 on lobbying efforts, according to their 2023, 2024 and 2025 state lobbying reports. Apparently, these efforts were aimed at the passage of a bill that would restrict local government from imposing stricter stormwater regulations than the state government, with Mitchell expressing support for the change in a real estate development podcast. The bill actually failed on the first attempt to pass it, owing to state lawmakers fearing that it might hinder municipal efforts to prevent flood-related property damage and harm to residents. Nonetheless, the IRDA celebrated the eventual passage of the bill, thanking Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds for signing it and even attending the signing ceremony.<\/p>\n

Mitchell\u2019s familiarity with lobbying might also come from experience, with Mitchell having interned at a lobbying firm, according to both Radio Iowa and his biography at Future Caucus, a group that supports young politicians.<\/p>\n

Read more Forget Platner. These Dems are still fighting for workers<\/a><\/p>\n

Mitchell did not immediately respond to Salon\u2019s request for comment.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Joe Mitchell, an Iowa Republican, campaigns against lobbyists, only after his trade org spent $75,000 on them<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":870,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[243,1198,1199,1200,1201],"class_list":["post-871","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting","tag-2026-midterms","tag-iowa","tag-joe-mitchell","tag-lobbyists","tag-real-estate"],"yoast_head":"\nAnti-lobbyist Republican benefited from lobbyists for years - Relocation Across America<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/relocationacrossamerica.com\/?p=871\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Anti-lobbyist Republican benefited from lobbyists for years - Relocation Across America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Joe Mitchell, an Iowa Republican, campaigns against lobbyists, only after his trade org spent $75,000 on them\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/relocationacrossamerica.com\/?p=871\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Relocation Across America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-09T18:10:33+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/?p=871#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/?p=871\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ba2572fa1a7a241291fdc36bdae80fcf\"},\"headline\":\"Anti-lobbyist Republican benefited from lobbyists for years\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-09T18:10:33+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/?p=871\"},\"wordCount\":376,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/?p=871#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/5a2daab8fb32a8f2fa3c57775c6df210.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"2026 Midterms\",\"Iowa\",\"Joe Mitchell\",\"Lobbyists\",\"Real Estate\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Interesting\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/?p=871#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/?p=871\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/?p=871\",\"name\":\"Anti-lobbyist Republican benefited from lobbyists for years - Relocation Across America\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/?p=871#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/?p=871#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/5a2daab8fb32a8f2fa3c57775c6df210.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-09T18:10:33+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ba2572fa1a7a241291fdc36bdae80fcf\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/?p=871#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/?p=871\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/?p=871#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/5a2daab8fb32a8f2fa3c57775c6df210.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/5a2daab8fb32a8f2fa3c57775c6df210.jpg\",\"width\":1692,\"height\":1142,\"caption\":\"Chief Operating Officer of Turning Point Action Tyler Bowyer (L) presents next-generation expected representatives (2L\\\/R) Amanda McKinney, former Sheriff Mark Lamb, Joe Mitchell and Michael Alfonso during Turning Point USA\u2019s annual AmericaFest conference in Phoenix, Arizona, on December 21, 2025. 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