Kim Reynolds vetoed a bipartisan eminent domain bill in 2025 after a private company tried to use eminent domain to take over private land in Iowa, leaving Republicans unable to agree on how to protect Iowa landowners from private corporations that stand to profit from the taking of private land.

Republicans at the statehouse spent the 2026 legislative session divided on the issue. Despite the imminent threat and Republicans’ promise to deliver some protection to landowners, no bills were moved this year.

Let me be clear: Eminent domain for private gain hurts farmers and landowners and is against our democratic principles.

What can eminent domain be used for? The short answer is it’s complicated.

Under the Takings Clause of the Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, private property can only be taken if it serves a “public use,” but what the word “use” means has been up for debate for years.

Eminent domain has been a particularly hot-button issue since 2005, when a case called Kelo v. the City of New London redefined eminent domain. The case was brought before the United States Supreme Court when city planners in New London, Connecticut, tried to transfer land to the New London Development Corporation. The land would ultimately be used for a new facility for the biopharmaceutical company Pfizer.

A handful of property owners refused to give up their land for the project and argued the city’s actions were unconstitutional since the city sold their land to private developers rather than for “public use.”

The Supreme Court decided the city had the right to seize private land for an economic development plan, but it wasn’t a unanimous decision. In her dissent, Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor wrote that “all private property is now vulnerable to being taken and transferred to another private owner, so long as it might be upgraded.”

In the end, after the property in New London was taken from landowners and the homes were bulldozed, the project never actually became reality because the facility was never built.

While eminent domain will continue to be debated at the national level, Iowa lawmakers have a chance to reform our eminent domain process to widen the corridors and change the rules around when developers can start talking to landowners so developers and landowners have more of a chance to work together.

Lawmakers can also ensure that if big building projects like the pipeline, which can require 2-million man-hours or more, move forward, they are built by Iowans and come with good-paying union jobs.

But, between legislators who are beholden to special interest groups and all of the infighting between members in the majority party, Republicans are clearly unable to lead on this and many other issues.

Failed leadership has not only left Iowa landowners worrying about whether a private corporation could swoop in and take their land – it has left Iowa with an economy moving in the wrong direction, new cancer rates rising faster than any other state, hospitals closing, our public schools declining in national rankings, and our farmers struggling to make a profit.

Iowans deserve so much better.

This November, Iowans will have a chance to make their voices heard at the ballot box. If you don’t like that Republicans’ inability to lead has left them hamstrung and you’re ready for some real change in our state, take a close look at who you have running for state house and senate in your district and think long and hard about what their leadership has done to help you and your family, friends and neighbors. Perhaps it is time to vote for someone new.

This year, you will find Iowa Democrats are running candidates who actually live in the state and understand Iowans because they are land owners themselves, small business owners, teachers and parents who are just trying to make the state they live, work and are raising a family in a better place.

They are ready to lead on issues that will protect property owners from corporations, bring down costs for everyone, ensure access to affordable, quality health care, and put our public schools first.

Rita Hart is the chair of the Iowa Democratic Party.