(Radio Iowa) – A Republican leader in the Iowa House is running for Iowa’s fourth district seat in the U-S House of Representatives. Matt Windschitl of Missouri Valley was first elected to the state legislature in 2006 — and he’s been House Majority Leader since the fall of 2019. “I talked to the two most important people in my life, my daughters,” Windschitl told Radio Iowa. “They’re both adults now and they both said, ‘Dad, you’ve got a heart for service, why don’t you take this opportunity, put yourself out there as you always have and see if they want you.”

Windschitl served eight years in the Marine Corps and did a tour of duty in Iraq in 2005. Windschitl was elected to the Iowa House when he was 22 years old and was honorably discharged from the Marines three years later. Windschitl says his approach to lawmaking is simple. “I want to look at every piece of legislation that’s passed under the lens of how does this make the constituents in Iowa 4, but all Americans more free,” Windschitl said, “getting government out of the way and making sure government works for the people, not against the people.”

Windschitl says national security, whether it be at the U-S-Mexico border or internationally, is a top issue. “President Trump has done a fantastic job reasserting our dominance as the greatest country to be on this globe,” Windschitl says, “and I want to help continue to move that agenda forward.” Windschitl, if elected, pledges to push to reduce the national debt. “We’re at, what, $36 trillion in debt and growing,” Windschitl said. “We’ve got to put a curb on that somehow, someway and I want to be there to help make sure that we’re not saddling the next generation and generations to come with debt that they just can’t handle.”

Iowa House Majority Leader Matt Windschitl (R-Missouri Valley) (official photo)

Windschitl currently works for Doll Distributing, a business that distributes beer in 44 Iowa counties and eight counties in Minnesota. He previously worked as a conductor for Union Pacific Railroad and as a gunsmith. Iowa’s fourth congressional district is currently represented by Republican Randy Feenstra, who’s running for governor. Two other Republicans in the fourth district have announced plans to seek the seat. “I’m a trusted conservative,” Windschitl said. “I’ve got a track record I’ll stand up against anybody else that might jump into the race.”

Last month, Siouxland Chamber of Commerce president Chris McGowan announced he would be seeking the G-O-P’s nomination in the 4th congressional district. In May, Republican state Senator Lynn Evans of Aurelia formed an exploratory committee for a fourth district campaign.