Attorney General Brenna Bird and challenger Nate Willems have been neck and neck in recent fundraising, new reports show, but Bird holds a substantial cash advantage more than three months before the general election.
Willems, a labor attorney and former Democratic state legislator, raised $1.95 million and has $2.67 million on hand as of July 14, according to campaign filings due July 20. Bird, first elected in 2022, raised $1.96 million and has nearly $6.9 million banked.
The numbers suggest Willems’ fundraising is catching up with Bird’s, but also that he has a long way to go to neutralize the substantial lead she built early in the campaign, outraising him by millions of dollars in 2025 and early 2026.
The lion’s share of each candidates’ recent hauls came in the form of $1.5 million donations from the Republican and Democratic Attorney Generals Associations, respectively.
Bird’s campaign, in a statement, noted she has 12 times as much cash ready as she did at this point in her 2022 race.
“It matters who Iowans elect as their attorney general, and we have been hard at work keeping Iowans and our elections safe and secure,” Bird said, touting her efforts against scam operators, online predators and voter fraud.
Willems, in a statement, said the nearly $3.2 million he’s raised since he started campaigning has “shatter(ed) previous Democratic attorney general fundraising records” and that voters want someone “willing to take on powerful interests who break the law or steal from them.”
“Thousands of Iowans have stepped up to support our campaign because they believe it’s time for an attorney general who will fight for them,” Willems said.
Democratic challenger Ryan Peterman outraised Republican incumbent Paul Pate in the Iowa Secretary of State race in the most recent fundraising period ending July 14.
Peterman raised nearly $52,000 and has $166,000 in cash on hand. Pate raised just over $2,000 and has $90,000 in the bank.
In Iowa Secretary of Agriculture race, Republican incumbent Mike Naig raised $179,000 and has nearly $673,000 in the bank, outpacing his Democratic challenger Chris Jones, who raised $110,000 and has just shy of $99,000 in cash on hand.
Democratic auditor nominee Taylor Wettach raised more than $272,000, bringing his fundraising total to nearly $1 million since launching his campaign earlier this year. He has $763,000 in the bank.
Lt. Gov. Chris Cournoyer, the Republican nominee for state auditor, raised nearly $145,000 in the most recent fundraising period and has $133,000 cash on hand.
She spent less than $15,000 in the most recent fundraising period, after spending more than $133,000 in the lead-up to a competitive primary against Abigail Maas in June.
Republican State Treasurer Roby Smith outraised his Democratic challenger, John Norwood. Smith raised $149,000 and has $358,000 in cash on hand. Norwood raised $56,000 and has $58,000 in the bank.
Iowa Attorney General
Brenna Bird (Republican, incumbent)
Nate Willems (Democrat)
Iowa Secretary of State
Paul Pate (Republican, incumbent)
Ryan Peterman (Democrat)
Iowa State Auditor
Chris Cournoyer (Republican)
Taylor Wettach (Democrat)
Iowa Secretary of Agriculture
Mike Naig (Republican, incumbent)
Chris Jones (Democrat)
Iowa Treasurer
Roby Smith (Republican, incumbent)
John Norwood (Democrat)
William Morris covers courts for the Des Moines Register. He can be contacted at wrmorris2@registermedia.com or 715-573-8166.
Stephen Gruber-Miller is the Capitol bureau chief for the Des Moines Register. He can be reached by email at sgrubermil@registermedia.com, by phone at 515-284-8169 or on X at @sgrubermiller.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Bird, Willems raise nearly $2M each in Iowa attorney general’s race
Reporting by William Morris and Stephen Gruber-Miller, Des Moines Register / Des Moines Register
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By William Morris and Stephen Gruber-Miller, Des Moines Register | USA TODAY Network
