| Joe Mitchell claims he is running a campaign about “opposing lobbyists and political insiders,” but new reporting from Salon details that Mitchell himself is a lobbyist and an insider part of that broken political system.
The report highlights how Mitchell “worked at a lobbying firm” and “spent nearly $75,000 on lobbying efforts,” and “Mitchell’s familiarity with lobbying” also comes from “experience” – Mitchell founded a “real estate lobby group” and also “interned at a lobbying firm.”
DCCC Spokesperson Katie Smith:
“Lobbyist Joe Mitchell is a liar and a fraud who left political office and entered the revolving door to cash out. He represents everything wrong with the broken political system of insiders in it for themselves, and that’s why he’s running for Congress: to enrich himself and rub elbows with Washington insiders, not work for Iowans.”
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Salon: Anti-lobbyist Republican benefited from lobbyists for years
- Joe Mitchell, a Republican running for Congress in Iowa, has made opposing lobbyists and political insiders a cornerstone of his campaign — despite a history of hiring lobbyists to advance his interests.
- In June, Mitchell won the Republican primary for Iowa’s Second District on a platform opposing corporate influence in elections and a campaign promising to represent Iowans who “have been left behind by a broken political system that works for insiders and lobbyists.”
- 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.
- 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 “of all kinds to maximize profit and reduce liability.”
- To accomplish this deregulation, the group spent nearly $75,000 on lobbying efforts, according to their 2023, 2024 and 2025 state lobbying reports.
- Mitchell’s 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.
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