Attorney General Brenna Bird is coming out swinging in the first TV ad of her reelection campaign.
Bird, a Republican who took office in 2023, is running for a second term against Nate Willems, a Democratic labor attorney from Mount Vernon. Her campaign is rolling out its first TV ad this week, it said in a press release, with a focus on Willems’ voting record during his 2009-13 tenure in the Iowa House of Representatives.
Titled “Radical,” the ad faults Willems for never having worked as a prosecutor and accuses him of backing higher taxes, including on gas, as well as opposing monitoring terms for sex offenders.
The campaign in a press release cited Willems’ 2011 vote against a bill cutting Iowa income taxes and a 2009 vote against an amendment “to require convicted sex offenders who committed a sex offense against a minor to undergo electronic monitoring for at least five years.”
It also cites a comment Willems made during an unsuccessful run for Iowa Senate in 2012 that he would be open to increasing the gas tax so long as it would automatically dissipate once gas rose above a certain price.
“Whether it’s taking on violent and dangerous criminals, protecting children from predators online, or supporting our law enforcement, the work we do in the attorney general’s office affects the lives of every Iowan,” Bird said in a statement. “It matters who your attorney general is, and our campaign will highlight the significant differences between Nate Willems and myself.”
The campaign also quotes Woodbury County Sheriff Chad Sheehan, who voiced support for Bird and said that “Nate Willems is just too liberal and simply unequipped to do the job. His voting record should terrify families who want to keep their kids safe.”
The ad rollout comes amid the Iowa State Fair, where Bird on Aug. 17 took the stage at the Des Moines Register Political Soapbox to tout her first-term record and attack Willems. Willems is expected to speak at the fair Friday, Aug. 21.
In response to Bird’s speech, his campaign manager, Brittan Ostby, said in a statement that Willems is running to enforce Iowa’s laws, not to vote on new ones.
“Nate Willems is running for attorney general to hold greedy corporations accountable, take on polluters when they poison our air and water, and will always keep our communities safe,” Ostby said. “He is not running to change our laws and he will never use the office to push a political agenda like Brenna Bird has for the last four years.”
Campaign finance records show that as of mid-July, Bird had a substantial cash advantage over Willems, in part due to early contributions from the Republican Attorney General’s Association. Both candidates were nearly tied in recent fundraising, each reporting just shy of $2 million raised in the most recent reporting period.
William Morris covers courts for the Des Moines Register. He can be contacted at wrmorris2@registermedia.com or 715-573-8166.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowa AG Brenna Bird targets Nate Willems in campaign’s first TV ad
Reporting by William Morris, Des Moines Register / Des Moines Register
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By William Morris, Des Moines Register | USA TODAY Network
