Iowa state Sen. McClintock announces run for open 2nd District U.S. House seat

Iowa state Sen. Charlie McClintock announced Thursday he will run for the open 2nd Congressional District seat in northeast Iowa, setting up what is expected to be a crowded Republican primary.

McClintock, a Republican from Alburnett, said he will soon file paperwork but has formally declared his candidacy.

“This is not exploratory,” he said in an interview, noting he would return to his state Senate seat if not successful.

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McClintock was reelected in November and his seat is not up again until 2028.

He announced Thursday at a luncheon of the Linn Eagles, a Republican fundraising group, and later declared his candidacy on social media.

He is the first Republican to announce for the open Iowa U.S. House seat after GOP incumbent U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson of Marion announced Tuesday she will run for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Sen. Joni Ernst, who announced she is not seeking a third term.

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McClintock said the opening came sooner than expected but offered the right chance to serve.

“As one of Iowa’s first endorsers of President Trump and supporters of his re-election campaign, I understand the Republican platform and the importance of an America First agenda,” he said.

McClintock began his career as a police officer at age 19 and recently retired from the Cedar Rapids Police Department, where he managed the joint communications 911 center. He served 31 years at CRPD and 36 years total in public safety. In 2009, he retired from the Iowa Army National Guard after serving 21 years.

He also served as a council member and mayor of Alburnett, and was elected to the Iowa House in 2020, before being elected to the Iowa Senate in 2022.

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He pointed to strong support in his state Senate district, where he won re-election in November with nearly 28,000 votes and was unopposed. The district includes rural Linn County and much of Benton County.

“Anyone who knows me, and my political career up to this point, knows my character, and my passion for listening to people, and representing them in the legislature,“ he said in a statement. ”I have a proven record of responsiveness, availability and service to my constituents, and the state. I believe these attributes are essential in an elected official, especially one representing the people in Washington, D.C.“

Former Iowa Congressman Rod Blum and state Rep. Shannon Lundgren have signaled possible bids. McClintock said he welcomes a primary, calling it a healthy process that brings more voters to the polls.

The 22-county district spans Cedar Rapids, Waterloo, Dubuque, Decorah, Grinnell and Mason City. Republicans maintain a roughly 23,000 voter registration advantage, and former President Donald Trump carried it by 10 points in 2024.

Although political forecasters still expect Republicans to retain the seat in the 2026 midterms, the contest is shaping up to be more competitive than once thought.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has flagged the district as a potential pickup opportunity. And recent Democratic victories in special elections to state legislative seats, including last month’s special election in western Iowa, have energized hopes of loosening Republicans’ grip on Iowa’s state and federal offices. Democrats flipped a state Senate seat in a district Trump won by 11 percentage points in November to break a GOP supermajority in the Iowa Senate.

Several Democratic candidates are in the field. They are state Rep. Lindsay James, a Presbyterian chaplain and Democrat from Dubuque; Clint Twedt-Ball, a longtime Cedar Rapids nonprofit leader; Kathy Dolter, a U.S. Army veteran and former dean of nursing at Kirkwood Community College in Cedar Rapids; and former Pine Lake State Park manager Don Primus, of Steamboat Rock.

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