Iowa House Majority Leader Windschitl faces young challenger

Republican incumbent Rep. Matt Windschitl has served in the Iowa House since 2007. This year, he faces Benjamin Schauer, a band teacher at Boyer Valley Community School District.

Windschitl did not respond to requests for an interview from The Nonpareil nor complete the newspaper’s questionnaire sent to candidates or attend legislative forums in Council Bluffs attended by his opponent.

However, Windschitl, who lives in Missouri Valley, did respond to a questionnaire from the Missouri Valley Times. He described himself as a “God fearing constitutional conservative,” husband and father to two homeschooled daughters. He was also homeschooled, according to his biography from the Iowa Legislature.

He works for Doll Distributing in Council Bluffs, according to the biography, and attended college for gunsmithing at Colorado School of Trades. He also served several years in the U.S. Marine Corps, serving a tour in Iraq in 2005.

Elected as majority leader in 2019, he works alongside Speaker Pat Grassley shepherding legislation through the Iowa House as a senior member of the leadership of the Republican-controlled Statehouse.

His family used to own a gun store, and Windschitl was known before becoming majority leader for his advocacy for gun rights, according to a 2020 profile by The Gazette. He told the paper at that time that he views his role not as setting the agenda or twisting arms to earn votes but to listen to the Republican caucus as legislation is crafted.

If reelected, Windschitl told the Missouri Valley Times he would continue to seek to protect the unborn, enhance the right to bear arms and focus on lowering taxes further. He said he wants to “preserve our liberties and freedoms which are granted by God and not government.”

This past legislative session, he supported several key GOP initiatives including overhauling area education agencies, cutting income taxes, allowing the arrest of certain immigrants, allowing school staff to carry guns and extending postpartum Medicaid coverage. Among his personal bills was one heightening penalities for murdering or assaulting police officers.

At a legislative coffee in Council Bluffs on March 30, Windschitl said the previous session had plenty of bills where the Republican majority worked alongside Democrats.

“There have been a lot of things we’ve been able to accomplish in a bipartisan fashion,” Windschitl said.

Schauer’s path to the ballot has been a little different than one may expect. He told The Nonpareil that, when he was originally approached about running, he declined.

“This has never been on my bucket list. Then I thought, if I don’t do this, no one else is going to do it. And that, to me, that’s awful because people don’t have a choice, and they need a choice in elections,” Schauer said.

Schauer serves on the Dunlap City Council and said living in a small community, alongside being an educator and public official, has shown him firsthand some of the challenges that disproportionately affect rural communities.

“I see how the lack of living wages in our area impacts our students. I see how, as we attack social safety, how we attack public education and other public services impacts our community,” Schauer said.

One of the biggest issues for Schauer is education. Schauer said the system has been fast-tracked and is one of those things that never should have been fast-tracked. He also mentioned that improving the rural health care system is a priority.

“Education is always my go-to and that’s really, really important for me. We have students that might not be getting a solid education like they want. But that leads to the bigger question of, why aren’t we investing in the current system and making that the system that works for everyone, instead of having to have them pull out? That’s the bigger issue,” Schauer said.

He said issues shouldn’t be viewed through a partisan lens. When it comes to how Schauer would work to connect with his constituents if elected, he said the most important thing is to just show up.

“The first thing is just showing up, then after you’re elected, you keep showing up. You go to community events, you show up at the parade, you show up at fairs and festivals and fundraisers, just to interact with them. Because Iowans don’t want someone that goes to Des Moines and then just stays there,” Schauer said.

Schauer said that as the election approaches, he doesn’t know what to think about his odds. But, regardless of the outcome, he has committed to running a second time.

“I don’t know, the conversations we’re having are good. People are ready for a change. They’re ready for a legislator who shows up and listens” Schauer said. “I think ultimately what it boils down to is: How many people can we get this message to by the election?”