Check the Facts
Brenna Bird is spending millions of dollars to mislead voters about Nate Willems' record. Endorsed by local law enforcement, as Attorney General, Nate will always fight to protect Iowa families.
Here's what's actually true — about Nate, and about Bird's record as Attorney General.
Nate Willems' Record
As Attorney General, Nate Willems will prosecute criminals to the full extent of the law and work together with law enforcement to keep our streets safe. As a lifelong Iowan and father to three girls, he's always fought to keep our families safe, and he always will. Nate is endorsed by law enforcement and even fought to secure the largest collectively bargained wage increase in Iowa history for local law enforcement.
Nate Willems Voted For Tougher Protections Against Predators
KCRG Fact Check: Bird's attack is “simply not supported at all in the legislative record.”
The bill passed the Iowa House 93–3. Nate voted yes.
As a member of the Iowa House of Representatives, Nate Willems voted for an overhaul of the state's sexual offender laws. The bill, SF 340, improved law enforcement's ability to monitor offenders, placed restrictions on where sexual predators can live and work, and made it easier for the public, parents, and school officials to access information.
Brenna Bird's suggestion that Nate Willems opposes monitoring has been proven false. SF 340 improved the ability of law enforcement to monitor offenders, and these protections continue to improve community safety today.
In her attacks, Bird cites Nate Willems' vote against a proposed amendment to the bill. That amendment failed 66–29, with many Republican legislators joining Willems in voting no. Rep. Clel Baudler — a Greenfield Republican, retired state trooper, and former National Rifle Association board member who helped develop the legislation — spoke on the House floor urging his colleagues to reject it:
"I strongly urge you to reject this amendment. . . What we could end up with with 1000 different residency requirements, and many of us fear that have been involved in this that the Supreme Court could say at some point in time we are unconstitutionally banning people from the state of Iowa, and we could lose the whole thing."
Rep. Clel Baudler (R–Greenfield), Iowa House floor debate, April 24, 2009Nate Willems Has Taken On Greedy Corporations — And Won
Nearly two decades representing Iowa workers, with a record of wins to show for it.
Nate has represented tens of thousands of Iowans whose wages were stolen, jobs were outsourced, or safety was endangered on the job. Among his victories:
- $15 million recovered for 11,000 current and former University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics workers who were victims of systemic withheld wage payments.
- $1.7 million in back pay recovered for custodial workers.
- The largest collectively bargained wage increase in Iowa history for the Carter Lake Police Department, won at arbitration after the city tried to back out of a deal its own negotiators had struck. New hires received 12 percent raises, and the most experienced officers received more.
- A federal court victory for UFCW Local 431 members after their employer tried to deny them the full pension credit they were owed.
- Jobs returned to Iowa workers after a company outsourced their positions.
Nate has represented Iowa's building trades, UFCW, SEIU, AFSCME, and law enforcement across the state. He is endorsed by the Carter Lake Peace Officers Association.
Nate Will Take On Corporate Polluters
Polluters should pay to clean up the mess they make.
Under Iowa law, the Department of Natural Resources can impose a maximum fine of just $10,000. Only the Attorney General can pursue heavy fines, injunctions, and criminal charges against a major polluter. Nate's plan would:
- Prosecute corporate polluters and seek damages above the $10,000 DNR maximum when they cause cancer or otherwise endanger Iowans.
- Refuse contributions from any company, or executive of a company, under active investigation by the office or found guilty of polluting Iowa's air, land, or water.
- Publish an annual report and online database of pollution incidents referred to the office and their outcomes.
- Notify residents near a pollution incident when a settlement is reached.
Brenna Bird's Record
While Bird spends millions on attack ads, here is what she has actually done — and failed to do — as Iowa's Attorney General.
Bird Protects Corporate Polluters
She let a company that released cancer-causing toxins off the hook — then took $100,000 from its CEO.
For three years a plant near Shell Rock released cancer-causing toxins into the air above the legal limit. The company knew and waited nearly a year to inform the public.
The Iowa DNR gave the company a $10,000 fine — the maximum the agency is able to levy under the law. The attorney general's office has the authority to seek additional penalties beyond the $10,000 cap — and has in other cases — but Brenna Bird refused. Weeks later, the company's CEO wrote Bird a $25,000 check, and has now given $100,000 to her reelection campaign, making him the largest individual contributor to her campaign.
Iowa now has one of the fastest-growing cancer rates in the nation — second-highest in America, and one of only three states where cancer is still climbing.
Bird did not bring a separate case against the company. The DNR did not ask her to, but Iowa law allowed Bird to act without being asked. And POET's CEO gave Bird's campaign $100,000 after the DNR case was settled. The records show those facts and when they happened.
KCRG-TV9 Fact Check, September 3, 2026Bird Has Failed To Support Victims of Crime
She cut off emergency contraception for sexual assault victims and held up pay for the nurses who treat them.
Bird halted Iowa's longstanding practice of paying for emergency contraception for victims of sexual assault. Those services were paid for out of the state's victim compensation fund — money that comes from fines and penalties paid by convicted criminals, not from general taxpayer dollars.
Victim advocates said they were not informed of the pause, which left victims already dealing with the trauma of an assault holding the bill. Bird said the change followed an audit of the state's victim services, but her office refused to release any findings from that audit. More than a year later, Bird announced her office would reinstate payments for emergency contraception.
Bird's office also held up pay for the Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners who sit with victims through the worst moments of their lives and build the cases that lead to convictions.
Bird Has Failed To Protect Iowa Seniors
Brenna Bird fought against safe staffing standards in Iowa nursing homes.
Iowa families deserve to know their parents and loved ones are safe in nursing homes. Bird sued the federal government in an attempt to stop safe staffing standards from going into effect, including a rule which would have required a registered nurse on site at all times.
In the year before Bird filed her lawsuit, data showed 14 percent of Iowa's nursing facilities were cited for insufficient staffing levels, more than double the national average of 5.9 percent.