FORT MADISON - The Republican candidate for Iowa Attorney General popped in at the Tri-State Rodeo last week and said she's ready to challenge Tom Miller to be the state's top law enforcement officer.
Miller, who has been Iowa's attorney general for close to 40 years, is the longest serving AG in the nation. Iowa is one of only two states in the country whose attorney general is not a member of the executive branch, but the judicial branch.
The two battled it out in 2010 with Miller winning by about 11 points. In 2018, the Republicans didn't even field a candidate to challenge Miller.
Guthrie County Attorney Brenna Bird said it's time for a new face leading Iowa's judicial efforts. Bird said Miller's lack of action against the federal government's overreach is what concerns her.
"People are very concerned about the Biden Adminstration and the federal government going too far especially with inflation making it really hard for people," she said while enjoying a pork sandwich dinner at the rodeo Monday night with State Rep. Martin Graber (R-Fort Madison).
"One of the roles of the attorney general is to file a lawsuit and hold the federal government accountable under the Constitution when they overreach and that's something I would do as Attorney General."
An Iowans for Tax Relief poll has Bird tied with Miller in the race and the Des Moines Register recently reported that Miller could be in for the fiercest election in his 28 years.
She said other states have filed lawsuits against the federal government citing overreach, including the state's attorneys general who recently got the OSHA vaccine mandate stopped.
"I'm a prosecutor and the way I do that is it doesn't matter what the politics are, you follow the law. I'd do the same thing in the Attorney General's office. I'm conservative and I think it's important that the federal government has to follow our constitution, too," she said.
Bird said it's a difficult time to be in the law enforcement business and as Attorney General she would take a more active role in supporting law enforcement as well as victims of crime.
"It's a tough time to be in law enforcement. The AG is the top law enforcement official but ours never talks about it, he's completely silent. I'll advocate for crime victims and support law enforcement as the heroes they are," she said.
Bird has been a prosecutor for six years and the county attorney in Fremont County and Guthrie County and has been an attorney for 21 years.
"We're going to work hard to win, meet Iowans, and listen to Iowans. The most surprising thing we hear on the trail is we don't know who the Attorney General is or what the job is."
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