Linn County’s Miller and Pate vying for Iowa Secretary of State seat

Two candidates with Linn County ties are running to be Iowa’s Secretary of State, a job that includes serving as the state’s top elections official.

Democratic Linn County Auditor Joel Miller, 67, a former mayor of Robins, is challenging incumbent Republican Paul Pate, 64, who is looking to be reelected to his third consecutive term.

Miller has been Linn County’s auditor since 2007. Pate is a former mayor of Cedar Rapids and state legislator, and held the secretary of state position once in the 1990s.

Pate originally ran for office because he was frustrated with the state government and he’s running for re-election now because ‘the job’s not done.’

“We have a misinformation battle we are facing right now,” Pate said. “We are making sure people are getting the facts.”

Miller said he was motivated to run after being sued by former President Donald Trump’s campaign during the 2020 election campaign. A judge sided with the Trump campaign, invalidating about 50,000 absentee ballot request forms that Miller had mailed to voters

“I’m running to make voting easy again,” Miller said. “I believe every other business and industry is trying to make their products and services more convenient so people will use them, but the Republican-controlled Legislature decided to make voting inconvenient for early voters and vote by mail.”

The secretary of state is the overseer of elections for the entire state. The secretary of state also supervises Iowa’s county auditors and provides business services in Iowa.

In March 2021, Gov. Kim Reynolds signed Senate File 413, which shortened the early voting period from 29 to 20 days; added rules about how absentee ballots can be returned and limited county auditors’ authority within the election process.

Iowa Republicans, who control the Legislature, had previously shortened the early voting period from 40 days to 29 days in 2017 with passage of a voter ID law that requires voters to present an approved form of identification at the polls. Pate had presented the ID bill to the Legislature to consider.

Both Pate and Miller said it’s important for Iowa’s secretary of state to put voters first and to be consistent with messaging about elections being safe, secure and not stolen.

“I’m going to continue to give Iowans the information they are going to need so they’re confident in the election process, and give them the transparency of the process,” Pate said. “I’ve been working on that. They need to know their vote counts and have confidence in it.”

“You have to focus your attention on elections,” Miller said. “The Legislature decided to hand over a lot of power to the secretary of state. There’s a huge responsibility with that office now and that requires the secretary of state to have a voice and say something.”

While some, including Miller, have said that Pate wasn’t very vocal during election law changes, Pate said that his role is to administer the laws and be “a referee.”

“I think I’ve been very consistent and out front on those issues that I think are important to get done like voter ID,” Pate said. “I’m the referee, administering the rules. I don’t get to wear a team jersey. But I have a significant amount of dialogue with the legislators and the governor and I’m giving them guidance and my advice on election law. And at the end of the day, it’s my job to make the election laws work.”

Miller said if elected, he would continue to be vocal about election laws.

“You have to be laser-focused and take a stand on these things,” Miller said. “You can’t act like you’re not involved as a third-party administrator.”

Along with administering elections, the Iowa secretary of state also handles the state’s business filings.

In 2018, Pate’s office implemented the Fast Track filing system for businesses with the goal of making the registration process faster as well as reducing filing fees.

“We’ve come a long ways,” Pate said. “When we first came back into this office, it seemed like we missed the whole Bill Gates era. Our technology was outdated. Now, if you need something, you can get it 24/7. But we’re working more on real customer service and putting people on the phone for the tougher questions.”

Miller said if elected, he would like to bring more transparency to the business side of the office as well as create an office of Small Business Advocacy.

“We could create a framework for people to form the LLC that would eliminate the cost,” Miller said. “I also think there should be an easier way to search conflicts of interest with businesses. It applies to elections and business filings. You should be able to pluck in a name and see what businesses people are affiliated with.”

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