Muhlbauer was born in
Audubon, Iowa to
Louis Muhlbauer, and was raised and resides in
Manilla, Iowa. He has an A.A. in Agricultural Business from Iowa Falls Community College. , Muhlbauer served on several committees in the Iowa House - the Agriculture, Public Safety, Veterans Affairs, and Ways and Means committees. He also served as the ranking member of the Administration and Rules committee. Muhlbauer was first elected in 2011, replacing Larry Lesle as the Democratic nominee after Lesle dropped out. In a December 19, 2012, interview with the Daily Times Herald (Caroll, Iowa) newspaper, Representative Muhlbauer called for the ban and confiscation of all semi-automatic rifles and other firearms in the state. "We cannot have big guns out here as far as the big guns that are out here, the semi-automatics and all of them. We can't have those running around out here. Those are not hunting weapons. We should ban those in Iowa. Even if you have them, I think we need to start taking them. We can't have those out there. Because if they're out there they're just going to get circulated around to the wrong people. Those guns should not be in the public's hands. There are just too big of guns." Dan Muhlbauer was defeated by Brian Best in the 2014 election. He died on October 1, 2020, in
Manilla, Iowa aged 62. His son Dave Muhlbauer announced he was a candidate in the
2022 United States Senate elections, challenging
Chuck Grassley. ==Electoral history==