Iowa 2nd District 2026

The money race

Campaign fundraising this cycle, with independent expenditures by outside groups for and against each candidate.

RJoe Mitchell
$1.94M
+$11K for · $307K against
DLindsay James
$1.63M
+$53K for
IDave Bushaw
$26K

Bars: money raised by the campaign this cycle. Thin bars: outside spending by super PACs and other groups, for and against.

Money raised and outside spending by candidate
Candidate	Party	Raised	Outside support	Outside opposition	Small-dollar
Joe Mitchell	R	$1,938,593	$10,803	$306,927	4%
Lindsay James	D	$1,628,201	$53,203	$0	4%
Dave Bushaw	I	$26,117	$0	$0	24%

$3.59M

Raised by candidates

$1.93M

Spent by candidates

$371K

Outside spending

3 spenders

Candidates

Candidate	Raised	Individuals	PACs	Small-dollar	In-state	Spent	Donors
Joe Mitchell (R)	$1.94M	$1.40M	$408K	4%	25%	$1.04M	599
Lindsay James (D)	$1.63M	$1.41M	$200K	4%	45%	$872K	1,046
Dave Bushaw (I)	$26K	$18K	$5K	24%	45%	$14K	25

Outside spending

Independent expenditures reported to the FEC (Schedule E). “Dark money in” is the total of grants the spender received from 501(c) nonprofits, as traced by Poliscope.

Spender	Target	Stance	Spent	Dark money in
AB PAC C00492140	Joe Mitchell	Oppose	$307K 7 filings	—
PROJECT 218 C00871368	Lindsay James	Support	$53K 2 filings	$2.65M
SENATE CONSERVATIVES ACTION C00524181	Joe Mitchell	Support	$11K 1 filing	—

Candidates

Joe Mitchell

R Republican

Raised: $1.94M
Small-dollar: 4%
In-state: 25%
Outside for / against: $11K / $307K

Mostly out-of-state money

Lindsay James

D Democrat

Raised: $1.63M
Small-dollar: 4%
In-state: 45%
Outside for / against: $53K / $0

Backed by EMILYs List Backed by End Citizens United Health care industry money Union PAC money Dark money spent on their behalf

Dave Bushaw

I Independent

Raised: $26K
Small-dollar: 24%
In-state: 45%
Outside for / against: $0 / $0

Source: Poliscope (poliscope.org), from FEC filings. Roster curated from FEC candidate registrations. Withdrawn and defeated primary candidates are not shown.