Joseph Paul Mitchell (born April 23, 1997) is an American business owner and politician from the state of Iowa. He served in the Iowa House of Representatives from 2019 to 2023. Sworn in at the age of 21, Mitchell was the youngest person to ever be elected to the Iowa House. He is the Republican nominee in the 2026 election in Iowa's 2nd congressional district.
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Early life
Mitchell's parents are John and Jean Mitchell, owners of a small manufacturing business in Wayland. He graduated from Waco High School in 2015, then graduated from Drake University in 2019 with a degree in business administration.
Business career
Mitchell owns and operates a real estate company based in Clear Lake that works to develop housing for rural communities.
Political career
Mitchell was elected to an open seat in the Iowa House of Representatives in the 2018 elections by a 61% to 39% margin. He served as a House Assistant Leader and he served on the following committees: Administration and Rules, Commerce, Judiciary, State Government, Ways and Means, and the RIFF Budget Subcommittee. He was reelected with 71% of the vote in 2020.
In 2022, Mitchell lost to fellow state Representative Jeff Shipley in the Republican primary after redistricting placed both of their homes in the same district.
Following his defeat, Mitchell became a resident fellow at Harvard University in 2023. In late 2024, Mitchell joined President-elect Donald Trump's 2024 transition team. After Trump's inauguration in January 2025, he worked as chief of staff in the Federal Housing Finance Agency before being appointed as Regional Administrator for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development of the Great Plains Region in late July 2025.
2026 U.S. House election
In September 2025, Mitchell announced that he would run for the U.S. House of Representatives in Iowa's 2nd congressional district, seeking to succeed Ashley Hinson, who is running for U.S. Senate.
Personal life
Mitchell was friendly with Charlie Kirk, founder of Turning Point USA, whom he first met in 2019. He has said he was profoundly affected by Kirk's assassination.
Mitchell is the founder of Run Gen Z, a nonprofit with the mission to "prepare Generation Z leaders to take action, take charge and take control of the future by supporting the vision of the founders of this country and supporting conservative political values such as limited government, free market capitalism, individual responsibility and fiscal restraint."