The Iowa House Ethics Committee has not set a date to consider ethics complaints against Republican Reps. Shannon Lundgren (R-Peosta) and Jennifer Smith (R-Dubuque) less than six weeks before both face voters in the midterms.
Iowa Rep. Bill Gustoff (R-Des Moines) is the chair of the House Ethics Committee.
“We are working to find a date for the Ethics Committee to meet on these complaints,” Gustoff wrote in an email to Iowa Starting Line. “… [I]t is inappropriate for me or any member of the Committee to comment on the matter publicly before the Committee has met.”
Gustoff did not respond to multiple calls and emails about the status of both complaints, only stating that the committee had received them.
The panel’s top Democrat Ross Wilburn (D-Ames) said he and Gustoff agreed that the Lundgren complaint was “sufficient as to form.” But the pair disagreed on whether the complaint against state Rep. Jennifer Smith should move to the next point of review.
“I expressed some concerns about the interpretation of the chapter,” Wilburn said. “And that’s about as far as I can go with that one.”
What is the complaint against Rep. Shannon Lundgren?
Kaylara Hoadley of North Iowa Fights Back, a Mason City advocacy group, filed the complaint Aug. 24. The complaint centers on a July 13 letter Lundgren sent to the judge overseeing sentencing for David “Dave” Lehmann. Iowa Starting Line first obtained and reported the letter in August.
Lundgren wrote the letter on official Iowa House letterhead, which identified herself as a state representative, and described herself as “a character witness for Dave Lehmann.” The complaint alleges that went beyond a personal reference, pointing to her use of her legislative committee assignments, her Statehouse contact information, and the Capitol’s likeness on behalf of a private citizen in a personal legal matter.
A jury convicted Lehmann in April of lascivious acts with a child, the second time he had been convicted of that charge; the Iowa Court of Appeals had overturned an earlier 2022 conviction. A judge suspended his 10-year sentence, ordering five years of probation and sex offender registration.
Lundgren has said Lehmann’s family asked her to write the letter, that character letters are a standard part of sentencing, and that hers spoke only to her personal dealings with him.
An ethics complaint is an allegation, not a finding of wrongdoing. Lundgren represents House District 65 and faces Democrat Carolyn Wiezorek in November.
What is the complaint against Rep. Jennifer Smith?
The complaint against Smith stems from photos Iowa Starting Line obtained and published in April, showing legislative pages stuffing Smith’s reelection mailers on April 6 in the House Lobbyist Lounge at the Iowa Capitol.
Pages are state employees hired to assist lawmakers during session. Iowa rules bar using public resources, including the paid time of state employees, for campaign purposes.
Shari Flatt, a retired Dubuque elementary school teacher, said she filed a complaint with the Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board on April 26. She said the board’s legal counsel and the House chief clerk agreed the matter fell under the House Ethics Committee’s jurisdiction, and she mailed a complaint to the clerk’s office in early May.
Flatt said she was told in June that the complaint was not covered by the committee after all, and had instead been referred to Speaker Pat Grassley as a personnel matter. She said she was given no explanation for the reversal.
Flatt is a registered Democrat who has worked on Democratic campaigns and says she campaigned against Smith. But she said politics are beside the point.
“A rule was broken, and so there has to be consequences,” she said.
Flatt’s complaint is now nearly five months old. She said she has emailed Grassley’s office without a response.
Smith represents House District 72 and faces Democrat Matt Robinson in November.
Where do the complaints stand?
House Clerk Meghan Nelson told Iowa Starting Line on Sept. 16 that the Lundgren complaint is in the “response phase.” Iowa Code gives Lundgren time to respond to the complaint. The chair is responsible for setting a date to convene the Ethics Committee, but Gustoff has not done so.
Has the committee met between sessions before?
On Aug. 4, 2025—well outside of the session—the panel met and dismissed a lobbying complaint that Lundgren herself filed.
The committee also met in 2021 for a deadlocked vote on complaints against Heritage Action.
What happens next?
No meeting is scheduled on either complaint. Election Day is Nov. 3.
