New Iowa legislative leader on working through friction with fellow statehouse leaders: ‘Iowans expect us to do a job’

DES MOINES — Mike Klimesh faces daunting challenges as he steps into a leadership role in the Iowa Legislature.

Klimesh, a Republican from Spillville, is the new Majority Leader of the Iowa Senate. It is a position of great importance in the state lawmaking process: the Majority Leader sets the Senate’s legislative agenda. No bill passes the chamber without the Majority Leader’s blessing.

In addition to that significant responsibility, Klimesh comes into the position at a time when he also must guide any necessary team healing after Senate Republicans went through a very public and very contentious debate over eminent domain policy during the 2025 legislative session.

He is now the Senate’s point man for negotiating legislation with Republican leaders in the Iowa House — an intraparty but across-the-rotunda relationship that also has showed strains in recent years.

And Klimesh will be the third member of a broader statehouse leadership team, along with Gov. Kim Reynolds, at a time when one key House Republican leader has vowed to stop any legislation introduced by the governor.

“Ultimately, at the end of the day, everything revolves around having a conversation, understanding that we’re here to do the work for Iowans. And if we lose sight of that, I think that’s where it leads to more issues,” Klimesh said Wednesday in an interview with The Gazette. “I think it’s important for us to be front and center that we’re all sent here to make Iowa a better place to live, work, (and) raise a family. And at the end of the day, I believe that will drive us to a consensus.”

Klimesh’s Senate Republican colleagues last week chose him as the chamber’s new Majority Leader after Jack Whitver stepped down from the position last month.

Whitver, who has been battling a brain tumor for more than a year, said in a press release that he made the decision based on family considerations and his health. He will serve the remainder of his term, which ends after next year’s election.

Senate Republicans coming off contentious session

Republicans have complete control of the state lawmaking process with expansive majorities in both chambers of the Iowa Legislature along with Reynolds in the governor’s office.

But that does not mean all conservative-minded bills are easy to pass, as was evident earlier this year when statehouse Republicans could not agree on legislation dealing with eminent domain and property rights.

The debate divided Senate Republicans and became heated within the caucus during floor debate and the morning after.

Asked if there is some healing that needs to take place within the Senate Republican caucus, Klimesh — who was among those who spoke on the floor during that heated debate — said, “Most definitely.”

“And I think it’s incumbent on the new majority leader, which happens to be me, to facilitate that healing,” Klimesh said. “Healing lies in conversations. It’s important for us to continue to talk to each other and then reflect on all the great work we’ve done for Iowans and not lose sight of the fact that we are much better as a team than we are divided. And I think it’s important for us to remember that.

“And I think that will lead us down the path to finding a solution to the issue — because the issue still exists — and finding a solution to the issue that as a caucus we can get behind and move forward.”

Working with other Republican Iowa Capitol leaders

Klimesh also must now work with other leaders in the Iowa Capitol, including majority Republicans in the Iowa House. Senate and House Republicans have had to work through significant policy disagreements on eminent domain, personal income and property tax rates and policy, taxpayer funding for private education assistance, and more. Republicans were able to resolve some of those, while others remain on their legislative plate.

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“Finding consensus lies in us having conversations and never coming in predisposed to one side or the other but being able to have a conversation and realize that the best policy comes from that,” Klimesh said. “And I think you look historically at what we’ve done as a (governing majority) trifecta — education, tax policy, all the things that we’ve been successful and accomplished and delivered to Iowa voters — doesn’t exist in a vacuum chamber. It requires all three bodies to get together, and we have a track record of success. There’s no reason why we shouldn’t be able to continue that track record moving forward.”

One reason that it may be at least more difficult to continue that track record moving forward is fallout from Reynolds’ veto of the eminent domain legislation that was sent to her desk last session. Her veto upset many Republican lawmakers who supported the bill, including Rep. Bobby Kaufmann, of Wilton, who, shortly before being elected Majority Leader by his colleagues, pledged to “work to kill every single piece of legislation that has her name on it.”

Asked how he will approach his role in that state lawmaking process alongside two apparently sparring factions, Klimesh again stressed that he believes dialogue is the key and expressed hope that leaders put aside any differences in the interest of passing legislation.

“I look forward to working with (Kaufmann) and Speaker Grassley and the governor’s office in my new role,” Klimesh said, “ … to make sure that we have a conversation, that we don’t lose sight of the fact that our petty disagreements, whatever they may be, at the end of the day, Iowans expect us to do a job. And we’ve done that, and we know we’ve done it, and we know we can do it, and let’s do it again.”

Klimesh, 56, has served in the Iowa Senate since 2021. He represents Northeast Iowa’s Senate District 32, which covers Howard, Winneshiek, Allamakee and Clayton counties, and small portions of Fayette and Dubuque counties.

Klimesh is a graduate of South Winneshiek High School and Luther College. He is married, managed a printing company for 20 years, and served for 22 years as mayor of Spillville.

Klimesh praised Whitver for his leadership of Senate Republicans — Whitver had served as Majority Leader since 2018 — and said he plans to lead the caucus and chamber in a similar way.

“I’m very policy-oriented, kind of an in-the-weeds type of guy. I know my roles have to change now,” Klimesh said. “So my leadership style will be trying to live up to how Jack led. Jack let his committee chairs do their job, and I think that’s really important. We’ve got a lot of great folks in the caucus, and they’re all in a great position. Organically, if we just let them do their job, work with the members of their committee and their vice chairs, at the end of the day we’ve got great policy for Iowans.

“No sense in trying to fix something that’s not broken.”

Comments: (515) 355-1300, erin.murphy@thegazette.com

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