(KIWA Staff Photo)Johnston, Iowa (RI) — The two candidates running for Iowa attorney general clashed over election fraud prosecutions and regulation of nursing homes during their only joint appearance of the campaign season on “Iowa Press.”
Attorney General Brenna Bird, a Republican, said one of the major differences between her and Democratic challenger Nate Willems, a labor attorney from Mount Vernon, involves election integrity laws.
Willems says any instance of voter fraud is unacceptable, but he questioned Bird’s record in court.
In four recent election fraud cases, juries returned not guilty verdicts. Last week, a Montgomery County jury acquitted a southwest Iowa man charged with election misconduct.
Bird defended her record and contrasted her prosecutorial experience with Willems’.
The candidates also debated Biden-era nursing home staffing regulations.
The candidates also discussed other topics during the half-hour program. Both said the attorney general’s office should be prepared to enforce Iowa’s agreement involving incentives for a company based in India that plans to build a steel mill in southeast Iowa. Bird and Willems also agreed that the state should continue pursuing cases against social media companies accused of harming children.
