GOP’s Brenna Bird takes on longtime Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller

DES MOINES — After nearly 40 years as the chief legal official in Iowa, Democrat Tom Miller is in what may be the most competitive election of his career as he faces a challenge from Republican Brenna Bird.

Aside from a four-year break when he ran unsuccessfully for governor in 1990, Miller has held the position of Iowa Attorney General since 1979, achieving the distinction as the longest serving state attorney general in U.S. history.

But Miller’s opponent says he is no longer working for Iowans. Bird has characterized Miller as a “lazy liberal” who does not represent Iowans’ best interests.

“He’s not working for us,” Bird said at the Iowa State Fair. “He’s not doing the job that we need to get done.”

Miller disputes that characterization, pointing to his work in the office on things like opioid settlements and consumer protection.

He says he is running for an 11th term in office because he has more he needs to get done. Miller said he wants to continue working on opioid prevention and treatment, big tech antitrust issues and other consumer protection measures.

“I continue to really enjoy the office and be challenged by the office,” he said in an interview. “I think we’re doing good things, and that’s rewarding. … I have that drive and energy, and set of convictions that I want to follow.”

Miller, 78, assumed the office in 1979 at 35 years old. After graduating from Harvard Law School in 1969, he volunteered with AmeriCorps VISTA in Baltimore, and then worked for then-Democratic U.S. Rep. John Culver from Iowa, who Miller described as his “mentor.” After returning to Iowa, Miller set up a general law practice in McGregor, and went back to private practice for four years after running unsuccessfully for governor in 1990. He is president of the National Association of Attorneys General, the bipartisan group representing state attorneys general across the country.

Bird, 46, graduated from law school at the University of Chicago and began work at a law firm in Silicon Valley. She worked as former Republican U.S. Rep. Steve King’s counsel and chief of staff until 2010. After that, she worked as Gov. Terry Branstad’s legal counsel until 2015. She has served as the county attorney for Fremont, Guthrie, and Audubon counties.

The election is Nov. 8 and early voting is underway.

Bird: Sue Biden and back the blue

Brenna Bird’s pitch to voters has focused on two major planks: supporting law enforcement and suing the Biden administration.

She is endorsed by 72 of Iowa’s 99 county sheriffs, including six Democrats. Speaking to crowds and in news conferences, Bird says that she meets county sheriffs, some who have been on the job for years, who have never met the attorney general.

“The attorney general is the top law enforcement official in Iowa, and so I would back the blue, support our law enforcement,” she said in an interview.

Bird said she would audit the victim services programs and open a cold case unit, as well as a special victims unit to assist with crimes such as child sex abuse.

Miller has discounted Bird’s accusation that he does not support law enforcement. He said his office aids with prosecutions across the state, helping smaller counties try high-profile cases. He pointed to the fact his office has helped secure hundreds of life imprisonment sentences for violent criminals.

“That is a much more important role than sort of being their political advocate, to take a political stance, that you support law enforcement,” he said.

Another major plank of Bird’s campaign is her promise to enter lawsuits against the Biden administration for what she sees as federal overreach.

She has pointed to Environmental Protection Agency rules she says are bad for farmers, rules around immigration and the southern border, and COVID-19 measures.

“When it comes to holding the Biden administration accountable, it looks like our attorney general is Biden’s attorney general,” Bird said at the Iowa State Fair. “When I’m attorney general, I’m going to be Iowa’s attorney general.”

Miller said he has disagreed with the administration on some issues, including calling on Biden to waive fertilizer tariffs, something farm groups say would lower costs for farmers. “I certainly would be involved in a suit against the Biden administration if I thought there was good strong legal grounds and it was in the interest of Iowans to do that,” he said.

Miller joined a number of lawsuits against former President Donald Trump’s administration, spurring the Republican-controlled Iowa Legislature into action. In 2019, he voluntarily agreed not to join multistate lawsuits without agreement from Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds in exchange for Reynolds vetoing the legislation. He said he made the decision to prevent future attorneys general from being bound by the requirement.

Miller’s priorities

Miller said he’d spend the term focusing on antitrust action against large technology companies like Google, and continue his focus on consumer protection measures.

Miller frequently touts consumer protection, and it is the focus of the National Association of Attorneys General during his current term as president. His Consumer Protection Division focuses on things like fraud and unfair market practices.

His office was involved in the 1998 multistate lawsuit that saw major tobacco companies pay billions to the. states, and he has joined other states in pursuing litigation against the likes of Microsoft and Google on antitrust grounds.

Employees of Miller’s office recently went on a “fraud watch tour” with AARP to warn seniors of the dangers of consumer scams.

Miller said he’s focused on consumer protection because it affects the life of everyday Iowans. “A, we’re all consumers, and B, we’re consumers many times over each day, so Iowans have a lot of interest in consumer protection,” he said.

Another one of Miller’s goals is to see the money won in lawsuits against opioid manufacturers go to treatment and prevention for substance abuse.

Miller has been a major advocate for suing opioid manufacturers and marketers for allegedly covering up the potential harms caused by the addictive medications. The state has received millions from opioid companies in settlements, and Miller said he expects to receive $225 million by the time other lawsuits are settled.

Miller’s office last year partnered with the University of Iowa’s substance abuse treatment to direct $3.8 million to programs treating substance abuse with medications like methadone. Miller said he’s also working with doctors to decrease the rate that opioids are prescribed to patients and make sure patients who do receive opioids are fully educated on the risk of addiction.

On opioid issues, Bird said she would put a focus on fentanyl, which has driven an increasing number of overdose-related deaths in recent years, both in the state and nationally, and is primarily brought into the country through the southern border.

“When I’m talking about the fentanyl crisis, I’m talking about the illegal fentanyl, where just one pill can kill someone, and that’s coming across the southern border,” Bird said. “It’s not manufactured and sold through pharmacies.”

While the attorney general does not make laws, the office defends Iowa’s laws in court, and one issue that may spur more lawsuits in the coming years is abortion.

Reynolds is seeking to reinstate a 2018 law that would restrict abortion once cardiac activity is detected, usually around six weeks. The law was blocked by a state court in 2019, but recent decisions from both the U.S. and state Supreme Courts have given legislators more freedom to restrict abortion access.

Miller declined to defend the state when that law was challenged, citing an ethical opposition to the bill, which he said would undermine women’s rights. He declined to represent the state again this year when Reynolds sought to overturn the law.

Bird criticized the decision as Miller vacating his duty. She said on “Iowa Press” in September she would defend the state’s abortion laws as attorney general.