A new opinion column from conservative legal activist Mike Davis is pressing Iowa voters to reelect Republican Attorney General Brenna Bird and reject her Democratic challenger, Nate Willems, calling Willems “soft on crime” and “hostile to the Constitution.”
Davis, an Iowa native and University of Iowa Law graduate who has twice worked for Senator Chuck Grassley, lays out Bird’s background: a law degree from the University of Chicago, years as a prosecutor, service as county attorney in both Fremont and Guthrie Counties, and the presidency of the Iowa County Attorneys Association. Bird has held the attorney general’s office since January 2023.
Davis points to two cold cases he says illustrate Bird’s record. In 2021, Ryan Cooper, a husband and father in Traer, was found shot dead in his home. The case went unsolved for two years until Bird’s cold-case unit took it up; within months Karina Cooper and Huston Danker were arrested, and a jury convicted Karina, who now serves life without parole. Separately, Barbara Lenz, a 31-year-old mother from Woodbine, vanished in 1989 after her abusive partner, Robert Davis, claimed he had dropped her off. There was no body and no confession. Nearly four decades later, Bird’s unit charged Davis; a jury convicted him and a judge sentenced him to 50 years.
Willems’ legislative record under fire
Davis criticizes Willems’ voting record as a state legislator, saying he voted against requiring electronic monitoring for convicted sex offenders, including those who victimized children. Davis also says Willems voted against making Iowa a shall-issue concealed-carry state, a standard he notes the Supreme Court addressed in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen, and against voter-ID requirements in a state Davis describes as containing two competitive U.S. House districts and races decided by fewer than a dozen votes.
On immigration, Davis contrasts Bird’s court filings supporting federal enforcement with what he calls Willems’ public criticism of those policies, arguing a Willems win would push Iowa toward the posture of states like California or Illinois on cooperation with federal immigration authorities.
Davis also faults Willems for voting against a ban on abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy, calling that a far-reaching position rather than a moderate one.
The D-Day repost
Davis singles out a social media post from Willems on the 82nd anniversary of the D-Day landings. According to Davis, Willems reposted an image comparing American paratroopers to the leftwing group Antifa, captioned “A plane full of uniformed antifa, circa 1944,” alongside a photo of American soldiers who parachuted into Normandy. Davis calls the comparison a “moral failure” and argues it alone should disqualify Willems from serving as Iowa’s top law enforcement official.
Davis closes by framing the November race as a clear choice: a prosecutor-turned-attorney-general with a record of cracking decades-old murder cases and defending gun rights, against a challenger he portrays as weak on sex-offender monitoring, opposed to concealed-carry expansion, and aligned against voter-ID laws.
