MIKE DAVIS: Iowans can't afford a soft-on-crime attorney general

As an Iowa native, graduate of the University of Iowa and the University of Iowa College of Law, and two-time staffer for Iowa's senior U.S. Senator and Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley, I know this for certain: Brenna Bird is the Attorney General Iowa needs reelected. Her Democrat opponent Nate Willems would be a disaster for Iowa, and the choice for voters in November could not be clearer.

Since January 2023, Bird has served with distinction as Iowa's Attorney General. Her credentials are sterling: University of Chicago Law School, years as a prosecutor, county attorney in both Fremont and Guthrie Counties, and president of the Iowa County Attorneys Association — the highest honor a prosecutor can earn in this state. Today, as Iowa's Attorney General, Bird does not merely hold the office. She wields it as a force for justice.

By contrast, Willems has never demonstrated the same seriousness. His legislative record and public conduct reveal a candidate soft on crime, hostile to the Constitution, and willing to smear American heroes for political points. He has no business within a hundred miles of the Iowa attorney general's office.

Consider the results. In 2021, Ryan Cooper, a husband and father in Traer, turned up shot dead in his home. The case sat cold for two years until Bird's newly created cold-case unit took it on. Within months, Karina Cooper and her lover Huston Danker faced arrest. A jury convicted Karina, and she now serves life without parole. Barbara Lenz, a 31-year-old mother in Woodbine, disappeared in 1989 after her abusive partner Robert Davis claimed he dropped her off. No body. No confession. Nearly four decades later, Bird's unit charged Davis. A jury found him guilty, and the judge sentenced him to 50 years. He will never hurt another woman.

That is what a real attorney general looks like.

TRUMPS PUSH FOR NATIONAL CONCEALED CARRY RECIPROCITY WOULD PROTECT GOOD GUYS WITH GUNS

Willems' record runs the other direction. As a legislator, he voted against requiring electronic monitoring for convicted sex offenders — including those who victimized children. That position disqualifies him on its face. It might fly in San Francisco, but it has no place in Iowa.

His contempt for the Constitution is equally evident. While Bird defends the Second Amendment, Willems voted against making Iowa a shall-issue concealed-carry state — the standard the Supreme Court affirmed as constitutionally required in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen. Willems also seeks to dilute Iowans' voting power by opposing voter-ID laws in a state with two swing House districts and recent races decided by fewer than a dozen votes. And while Bird has filed court briefs supporting federal immigration enforcement, Willems has publicly attacked those policies. A Willems victory would transform Iowa from a legal ally of the president into a state resembling California or Illinois — states dedicated to obstructing federal law enforcement at every turn. Willems does not represent Iowa. He represents the resistance.

WHAT MY SON'S ULTRASOUND TAUGHT ME ABOUT ABORTION — AND MASSACHUSETTS IGNORES

Willems is also an extremist on abortion. He voted against a ban after 20 weeks of pregnancy. Opposing a limit after 20 weeks means defending abortion more than halfway