Republican Joe Mitchell, Democratic state Rep. Lindsay James spar in 2nd District debate

Iowa Rep. Lindsay James, a Dubuque Democrat, and Republican Joe Mitchell traded barbs about one another’s backgrounds and positions in a Thursday debate.

The two candidates faced off in a debate hosted by Iowa’s News Now as they seek the 2nd Congressional District seat currently held by U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson, who is running for U.S. Senate this year. There are two other candidates on the ballot in the 2nd District race — independent candidate Dave Bushaw and Libertarian Rick Stewart — who did not meet the news network’s criteria to qualify for the debate stage.

James and Mitchell answered questions from moderators about a number of issues, including their plans, if elected, to address Iowa’s rising cancer rates, reduce healthcare costs and handle immigration enforcement.

Mitchell said he supports the manner in which the GOP-controlled Congress has approached immigration enforcement in the past year and supported “record funding” for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), criticizing former President Joe Biden’s administration by saying, “he could have closed the border. He did not.”

There has been significant pushback against some immigration enforcement actions taken by ICE in American cities — including incidents that led to two U.S. citizens being killed by ICE agents in Minnesota. When asked by moderators whether federal immigration enforcement efforts needed reform, Mitchell said, “ultimately, I’m going to run to make sure we have a secure border, that we have Border Patrol fully funded, and we get criminals out of our country.”

Mitchell claimed James was against the U.S.-Mexico border wall. The Republican candidate also claimed James supported allowing undocumented immigrants to have access to public assistance programs like Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP), referencing her vote against a measure requiring non-U.S. citizens verify their immigration status and Iowa residency to receive benefits.

James said Mitchell was being “dishonest and misleading,” and said she was “a mom who believes in keeping our borders secure and our communities safe.”

“That is why I support policies that will secure our border, and I think that both Democrats and Republicans have gotten this wrong,” James said. “I would argue, as well, that I feel like the past administration, the Biden administration, didn’t have strong enough policies when it came to securing the border. I am someone who has departed from my political party on several different occasions, because I have courage of conviction, because I have a moral compass, because I believe in doing right by my neighbors. I want safe communities for my kids. I also believe that we need comprehensive immigration reforms.”

When asked about her vote on legislation requiring immigration status verification, James answered, “Iowans are my priority, and they will always be my priority.”

Both candidates said they did not support federal tax incentives for data centers, but James claimed Mitchell was a person who “received $100,000 doing consulting work for a PR firm for data centers.”

“He is someone who is benefiting financially from that work, and is someone who I question is really going to stand up and fight for everyday, hardworking families to make sure that our communities are safe,” she said.

The comment was made in reference to reporting by The Lever which highlighted Mitchell’s previous work for KAOH Media, a public relations firm. The company’s website currently references its work to support data-center developers. Mitchell said KAOH Media did not begin working with data centers until after he left the firm, saying it was “another lie” from James’ campaign.