# Brett Barker

Brett Barker is a Republican member of the Iowa House for district 51.

- Party: Republican
- Seat: Iowa House, district 51
- Serving since: 2025-01-01
- Current term: IA 2025–26 session
- Open States ID: ocd-person/e34f4bba-5e1f-4e99-8654-d35140a5470b

Source: https://americaspoliticalpulse.com/p/e34f4bba-5e1f-4e99-8654-d35140a5470b (America’s Political Pulse, Polarization Research Lab), data through 2026-10-27. Data under CC BY 4.0. Cite as: Westwood, Sean J., and Yphtach Lelkes. 2024. America's Political Pulse [data set].

## Headline

3.7% of Barker’s statements use bipartisan language, 2.0 times the State House Republican average of 1.8%.

## What Barker says (IA 2025–26 session)

1,163 classified statements: 1,163 posts on X. Each rate is the share of statements with the label, against the State House Republicans average; rank 1 is the highest rate.

| Label | Barker | State House Republicans average | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Personal attacks | 0.0% | 2.9% | 642 of 791 |
| Policy criticism | 2.1% | 9.3% | 582 of 791 |
| Policy discussion | 27.1% | 31.9% | 453 of 791 |
| Bipartisanship | 3.7% | 1.8% | 125 of 791 |
| Credit claiming | 11.9% | 12.7% | 350 of 791 |
| Extreme labels | 0.3% | 1.4% | 424 of 791 |

Most discussed policy areas: Health 35% (State House Republicans 10%); Families 12% (State House Republicans 3.6%); Agriculture and Food 9.9% (State House Republicans 4.4%); Education 8.9% (State House Republicans 15%); Economics and Public Finance 8.3% (State House Republicans 12%).

## Ideology (CSIP)

CSIP score +0.43 (standard error 0.03), from 287 donors and 292 roll calls. Negative is left of 0, positive right of it, on one scale for every official. 64% of State House Republicans score lower.

## Votes (IA 2025–26 session)

822 roll calls. Attendance 98.6% (Iowa House 91.8%). Party unity 96.4% (96.0%). 19 votes against the party majority.

Key votes:

- 2026-10-02 · voted yea · Shall the bill pass? · HF 2801 A bill for an act modifying the major economic growth attraction program, and including effective date provisions. · pass · https://openstates.org/ia/bills/2025-2026/HF2801/
- 2026-05-02 · voted nay · Shall amendment H-8456 be adopted? · SF 639 A bill for an act creating a specialty business court, and including effective date provisions. · fail · https://openstates.org/ia/bills/2025-2026/SF639/
- 2026-05-02 · voted yea · Shall amendment H-8451, to amendment H-8414, be adopted? · HF 2770 A bill for an act relating to and making appropriations to the justice system, providing fees, and including applicability provisions. · pass · https://openstates.org/ia/bills/2025-2026/HF2770/
- 2026-05-02 · voted yea · Shall the bill pass? · SF 2480 A bill for an act relating to the taxation and regulation of alternative nicotine products and vapor products, making appropriations, and including… · pass · https://openstates.org/ia/bills/2025-2026/SF2480/
- 2026-05-02 · voted yea · Shall the bill pass? · SF 2465 A bill for an act relating to agriculture, including by providing for the powers and duties of the department of agriculture and land stewardship,… · pass · https://openstates.org/ia/bills/2025-2026/SF2465/
- 2026-05-02 · voted nay · Shall amendment H-8416, to amendment H-8414, be adopted? · HF 2770 A bill for an act relating to and making appropriations to the justice system, providing fees, and including applicability provisions. · fail · https://openstates.org/ia/bills/2025-2026/HF2770/
- 2026-05-02 · voted nay · Shall amendment H-8417, to amendment H-8414, be adopted? · HF 2770 A bill for an act relating to and making appropriations to the justice system, providing fees, and including applicability provisions. · fail · https://openstates.org/ia/bills/2025-2026/HF2770/
- 2026-05-02 · voted yea · Shall the bill pass? · HF 2794 A bill for an act establishing a sexual assault forensic examination center grant program and trust fund. · pass · https://openstates.org/ia/bills/2025-2026/HF2794/
- 2026-05-02 · voted yea · Shall the bill pass? · HF 2797 A bill for an act relating to the peace officer, public safety, and emergency personnel bill of rights, and providing fees. · pass · https://openstates.org/ia/bills/2025-2026/HF2797/
- 2026-05-02 · voted yea · Shall the bill pass? · HF 2617 A bill for an act relating to abandoned vehicles. · pass · https://openstates.org/ia/bills/2025-2026/HF2617/

## Legislation (IA 2025–26 session)

Sponsored 64 bills: 63 reached committee, 5 passed one chamber, 0 passed both, 0 became law. Cosponsored 0. 7.8% of sponsored bills got out of committee (Iowa House 13.4%; rank 63 of 98).

Recent sponsored bills:

- HR 114: A resolution honoring the Iowans who were killed in or survived the attack on the USS Indianapolis on July 30, 1945. (passed one chamber, 2026-04-08) https://openstates.org/ia/bills/2025-2026/HR114/
- HF 2728: A bill for an act relating to obstructing first responders, and providing penalties. (in committee, 2026-04-09) https://openstates.org/ia/bills/2025-2026/HF2728/
- HF 2650: A bill for an act relating to drug paraphernalia. (in committee, 2026-02-20) https://openstates.org/ia/bills/2025-2026/HF2650/
- HF 2476: A bill for an act relating to driver’s licenses and nonoperator’s identification cards marked to reflect a holder’s nonapparent disability status. (in committee, 2026-02-23) https://openstates.org/ia/bills/2025-2026/HF2476/
- HF 2428: A bill for an act relating to the authorized uses of a township fire protection levy. (in committee, 2026-02-19) https://openstates.org/ia/bills/2025-2026/HF2428/
- HF 2402: A bill for an act providing for the administration of a rabies vaccine to an animal by a registered veterinary technician performing the task under the… (in committee, 2026-02-17) https://openstates.org/ia/bills/2025-2026/HF2402/
- HF 2400: A bill for an act creating a contractor performance assessment system. (in committee, 2026-02-11) https://openstates.org/ia/bills/2025-2026/HF2400/
- HF 2406: A bill for an act relating to administration of and taxation on tobacco-related products including imposing a tax on alternative nicotine products and vapor… (in committee, 2026-02-11) https://openstates.org/ia/bills/2025-2026/HF2406/
- HF 2370: A bill for an act relating to a green alert system for missing at-risk veterans, and making penalties applicable. (in committee, 2026-02-17) https://openstates.org/ia/bills/2025-2026/HF2370/
- HF 2312: A bill for an act establishing an affordable housing task force. (in committee, 2026-02-20) https://openstates.org/ia/bills/2025-2026/HF2312/

## Campaign money (2026 cycle)

Itemized receipts $62.2K (State House Republicans median $33.7K). 75% of itemized individual money came from in state. Aggregates only; no individual donors.

## Recent statements

Newest first. Posts on X are listed by date and link only.

- 2026-10-25 · Post on X · https://x.com/brettbarker/status/2114482157896745320
- 2026-10-24 · Post on X · https://x.com/brettbarker/status/2113785878094975286
- 2026-10-24 · Post on X · https://x.com/brettbarker/status/2114077683873181924
- 2026-10-23 · Post on X · https://x.com/brettbarker/status/2113451214306205743
- 2026-10-23 · Post on X · https://x.com/brettbarker/status/2113492815691010175
- 2026-10-22 · Post on X · https://x.com/brettbarker/status/2113419511084847429
- 2026-10-21 · Post on X · https://x.com/brettbarker/status/2112732424102674921
- 2026-10-21 · Post on X · labels: policy discussion, credit claiming · https://x.com/brettbarker/status/2113041874961170555
- 2026-10-20 · Post on X · https://x.com/brettbarker/status/2112358342358143043
- 2026-10-19 · Post on X · labels: policy discussion · https://x.com/brettbarker/status/2112219725472137672

## Links

- Official site: https://www.legis.iowa.gov/legislators/legislator?ga=91&personID=37386
- Campaign site: https://www.barkerforiowa.com/
- X: https://x.com/brettbarker
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BarkerForIowa
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/barkerforiowa/
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@barkerforiowa

Full profile, with every chart and the methods: https://americaspoliticalpulse.com/p/e34f4bba-5e1f-4e99-8654-d35140a5470b