New Iowa House minority leader-elect Rep. Brian Meyer stops in Davenport on state tour

DAVENPORT — The newly elected leader of the Iowa House Democrats said the party needs to focus on "kitchen table issues" in the upcoming election cycle.

Rep. Brian Meyer, a Democrat from Des Moines, was elected to lead the caucus as minority leader Thursday and kicked off a listening tour of the state in Davenport on Saturday. Meyer will take over at the end of session for current minority leader Jennifer Konfrst, who is stepping down to run for Congress.

Meyer called the proposed state budget a ticking time bomb for using about $900 million in reserves to make up for reduced revenue from tax cuts.

"As Democrats, we are here to say, we have an alternative," Meyer said. "We have the ability to say to you that this is going to be different and how it's going to be different if we were to be in charge."

If Democrats were to win a trifecta of controlling both legislative chambers and the governorship, that alternative would include repealing Education Savings Accounts and focusing on issues such as raising the minimum wage, ensuring Medicaid and schools are fully funded and reducing the tax burden on low-and-middle income Iowans.

"Times are tough, and I think people are forgetting that. So, at the end of the day, we will have conversations about kitchen-table economic stuff that is just going to be, how can we help?" Meyer said.

Meyer said he wants to hear from people in Iowa on what issues are important to them, and plans to travel to more events like Saturday's forum hosted by State Rep. Ken Croken, D-Davenport, and State Sen. Cindy Winckler, D-Davenport.

Meyer said he thinks sometimes the Democrats talk too much about social issues, such as transgender and abortion rights, which he called important to protect.

"However, I think we have to go where the people are," Meyer said. "The people are concerned about finances, they're concerned about inflation, and we weren't talking so much about those and that's my real concern, that we need to get back to the basics of how can we improve people's lives?"

Meyer said Democrats plan to unveil a property tax plan in response to Republicans that is slightly different than the one Democrats outlined earlier this year.

Residents at the forum brought up special education funding, a bill to loosen protections for tenants against eviction, eminent domain and how Democrats can better reach voters.

In response to a question about Democrats' strategy for the next election cycle, Sean Bagniewski, a Democrat from Des Moines and assistant minority leader, said he did not believe Democrats could win enough seats to gain a 51-seat majority in 2026.

Republicans hold a 67-seat supermajority in the House while Democrats have a 33-seat minority.

"Can we get into the upper 40s? Yeah, I think we can," Bagniewski said.

He is part of the effort to recruit candidates to run for office, and said the party is looking for candidates like state Sen. Mike Zimmer, a former schoolteacher and administrator who is well known in the community, who represents parts of Scott, Clinton and Jackson counties after winning a special election in January.

"The person I am looking for are Mike Zimmer kind of candidates," Bagniewski said. "People who aren't just the people who come to county central committee meetings every month that are the most political people all the time, but community leaders, business leaders, coaches, doctors, librarians. Whoever they might be, people who want to step up, who want to start knocking doors this year so we can flip some seats next year."

Another attendee asked how the Democrats could appeal to people of color who are moving away from the Democratic Party.

Meyer, asked later the same question by a reporter, said: "The same thing. We have to come back to kitchen-table issues. How are you going to afford to live? A lot of people are living paycheck to paycheck."

Meyer, 51, represents Iowa House District 29, which covers southeast Des Moines. He was first elected to the Iowa House in 2012 and is serving his seventh term. He currently serves as the House Democratic Whip.

A Dubuque native, he joined the Iowa National Guard and resigned his commission to go to law school. An attorney at the Hope Law Firm in Des Moines, Meyer is a graduate of the University of Northern Iowa and Drake University Law School. He is a former Assistant Iowa Attorney General and a former Des Moines City Council member.

Tom Barton of The Gazette contributed to this report.