Iowa’s race for attorney general presents one of the most promising pickup opportunities in the country—not only because a long-serving Democratic incumbent is vulnerable, but also because of the quality of his challenger. Brenna Bird, a native of Dexter, Iowa, comes with extensive experience that would make her a well-rounded choice for any state’s top lawyer. A graduate of Drake University and the University of Chicago Law School, her legal experience includes corporate law, solo practice, four years as legal counsel to Iowa Governor Terry Branstad, and six years as county attorney (for Fremont and then Guthrie County). During the 2000s, she worked on Capitol Hill, where she co-founded the Capitol Hill Chapter of the Federalist Society, and she later taught legislation at the University of Iowa College of Law. She is a well-grounded constitutionalist with a commitment to the rule of law.
Accordingly, Bird would bring Iowa’s attorney general’s office into the battle against the excesses of the Biden administration—prominently including its Covid vaccine and mask mandates; its termination of Title 42, which had been implemented to enable border agents to prevent the entry of migrants who potentially pose a health risk; and the Environmental Protection Agency’s “Waters of the United States” rule, which entails a vast expansion of federal land regulation that will stifle farmers and small businesses. Attorneys general in a number of states have been waging these battles while Iowa, whose citizens share similar priorities, has been conspicuous for its attorney general’s absence.
The incumbent, Tom Miller, is the longest-serving attorney general in American history. His time in office totals nearly 40 years, winning his first election in 1979, and including a quick hiatus when he lost the primary in 1990 but was elected again in 1994.
Nowadays, Miller is out of step in a state that has had an intensifying pattern of electing Republicans—more than in 2010, when Bird previously challenged him. On top of that, Miller is the current president of the National Association of Attorneys General (NAAG), which as I recently noted has come under fire for acting like a giant slush fund operator, feeding lawsuits to left-wing lawyers while accumulating money that should go to consumers.
And while Bird makes cracking down on crime a major priority of her campaign, Miller has failed to meet with key law enforcement officials in the state and acts like little more than a proxy for the Biden administration. “I meet all the time with sheriffs that have never met him—not once,” Bird noted. “Not even shook his hand.”
Bird has been outraising and outspending Miller, who in turn has launched an ad attacking Bird for being pro-life. Bird is in fact pro-life and long opposed the U.S. Supreme Court’s act of judicial fiat in Roe v. Wade. Miller is not only pro-abortion, but also an outspoken critic of the Court’s recent Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization ruling overturning Roe. He further advocates the Iowa Supreme Court’s preemption of the state legislature with its own version of Roe, handed down years ago. While Iowa’s highest court recently offered hope that it might soon get out of the business of dictating abortion policy to elected officials, Miller has been so staunch an advocate of abortion that he refused to defend the state’s “heartbeat” bill in court after Governor Kim Reynolds signed it into law.
Could it be more obvious that the people of Iowa deserve a new attorney general? Fortunately, in Brenna Bird they have an excellent candidate to help turn things around—someone who knows, respects, and promises to enforce the law. It is unacceptable to have someone in that office acting as “Biden’s attorney general,” she asserted. “When I’m attorney general, I’m going to be Iowa’s attorney general.”