Republican Joe Mitchell is releasing his first televised campaign ad of the election season, touting his anti-corruption platform and career in housing development.
Mitchell, a former state lawmaker and Trump administration housing official from Clear Lake running for northeastern Iowa’s 2nd Congressional District, launched a 30-second spot titled “Bulldozer” Aug. 24.
It is set to run across the 2nd District on broadcast, cable and streaming platforms.
“I am a lifelong Iowan and a builder who is going to challenge the corruption in Washington, D.C., every single day,” Mitchell said in a statement. “I am the only Republican in the country refusing corporate PAC money, I am just one of a handful calling for term limits. And if elected, I will fight to end the lawmaker-to-lobbyist pipeline. This is how we achieve real results for the American people.”
The ad highlights the anti-corruption-focused issues Mitchell has centered his campaign around, including implementing term limits, banning congressional stock trading, rejecting corporate PAC money and ending the lawmaker-to-lobbyist pipeline.
Most of the ad features Mitchell standing in front of a bulldozer, a nod to his career developing workforce housing in rural Iowa. Clips of the bulldozer plowing through fresh dirt flash as Mitchell lists off his platform’s items.
“Washington wasn’t built for people like us, it was built for lobbyists, special interests and career politicians. We need to run a bulldozer straight through the corrupt system,” Mitchell says in the ad. “Politicians shouldn’t get rich while Iowa families struggle to afford groceries, housing and child care. It’s time to put regular people back in charge.”
Mitchell worked for the Trump administration as chief of staff at the Federal Housing Finance Agency as well as serving briefly as a regional administrator for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. He owns and operates a real estate development company that focuses on workforce housing developments in rural Iowa and formerly led the Iowa Real Estate Developers Association.
Mitchell will face Democratic state lawmaker and Presbyterian pastor Lindsay James of Dubuque in the general election. James has also proposed anti-corruption policies, including banning congressional stock trading, ending the legislator-to-lobbyist pipeline and overturning Citizens United, the U.S. Supreme Court decision allowing an increase in outside spending in politics.
The 2nd District is projected to be the most competitive it has been in years as current Republican U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson is vacating the seat for a U.S. Senate run. Election forecasters, including the Cook Political Report and Sabato’s Crystal Ball, have gradually moved it from “likely Republican” to “lean Republican.”
Rapid Response Politics Reporter Maya Marchel Hoff can be reached at mmarchelHoff@registermedia.com. You can find her on X (formerly Twitter) at @mmarchelhoff.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Exclusive | Iowa Republican Joe Mitchell releases first TV campaign ad
Reporting by Maya Marchel Hoff, Des Moines Register / Des Moines Register
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Maya Marchel Hoff, Des Moines Register | USA TODAY Network
