(Radio Iowa) – The 2026 Iowa legislative session starts Monday — and one of the top Republicans in the Iowa House is predicting there will be pressure to wrap things up as quickly as possible. Representative John Wills of Spirit Lake is Speaker Pro Tem, the third ranking Republican in the Iowa House. “We’ve got a lot of legislators who are running for higher officer…for congress and for governor,” Wills said. “…I think there’s going to be some desire to get out of Des Moines this year — and that’s good thing.”

Three state senators and five representatives are running for federal office, plus another member of the Iowa House is running for governor. Wills expects bills to emerge on the use of eminent domain for the carbon pipeline and to limit property tax increases, but beyond that, Wills says legislators will deal with a bunch of smaller issues. “I don’t think it’s going to be that robust of a session,” Wills said. “There’s just not a lot of appetite for a lot of discussion, any talk about big ticket items.” Wills has served in the Iowa House since 2015 and is seeking re-election in November.

Here are legislators who are running for higher office, seeking to represent, or are from, western/southwest Iowa:

• State Senator Sarah Trone Garriott of West Des Moines is running in the Democratic Primary in Iowa’s third congressional district
• State Representative Josh Turek of Council Bluffs is running in the Democratic Primary for the U.S. Senate.
• State Representative Matt Windschitl of Missouri Valley is running in the Republican Primary in Iowa’s fourth congressional district
• State Representative Jennifer Konfrst of Windsor Heights is running in the Democratic Primary in Iowa’s third congressional district.