DES MOINES, Iowa (Legal Newsline) - Riding a red wave, Republican candidate for Attorney General Brenna Bird is racking up key endorsements, solid polling numbers against incumbent Democrat Tom Miller, and, according to a recent survey of Iowans, is in lockstep with what likely voters believe should be the top priorities for the next Attorney General – the acceleration in crime and fentanyl overdoses among them.
"It's no surprise that Iowans are concerned about crime and drug abuse,” Bird, the Guthrie County Attorney, told Legal Newsline. “As a prosecutor, I hear about it every day. After 40 years in office, Tom Miller has lost touch with Iowans and the issues they care about.”
The ongoing Google survey shows that 28.2 percent of Iowans responding rank the increase in crime rate as the number one priority for the next Attorney General. Coming in first for 13.2 percent of respondents is the increase in fentanyl overdoses, and first for 11.4 percent is protecting farmers’ water rights, which are under threat from a proposed Biden administration change in regulations covering waters of the United States (WOTUS).
Only 4.6 percent of those responding believe that protecting Iowans from online romance scams, one of Miller’s priorities, is their number one priority; Miller, in his roll as president of the National Association of Attorneys General (NAAG), recently hosted on seminar on the topic.
Forty two percent of those responding cited other issues as most important.
The survey, which began Feb. 17, was commissioned by Metric Media. Total number of responses as of March 17 was 460, and the margin of error is +/- 4.569.
A separate poll commissioned by Iowans for Tax Relief gives Bird a 46 percent to 41 percent lead over Miller. The results of the poll, published Feb. 28, also show that Republican candidates have a solid 17-point margin in the congressional generic ballot, pointing to a red wave in the November midterm elections.
And the poll gives Republican incumbent Gov. Kim Reynolds a high net favorability rating, and a comfortable 17-point lead over likely Democrat nominee Deidre DeJear (55.3 to 38.1). Reynolds has endorsed Bird for AG, as have U.S. Senator Joni Ernst, Congresswoman Mariannette Miller-Meeks and U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley.
“As Iowa's next Attorney General, I'm committed to bolstering the support the AG office gives to local Iowa prosecutors as they fight crime and the drug epidemic in our communities,” Bird said. “Defending Iowans constitutional rights and freedoms, fighting back against the Biden administration's authoritarianism, and improving public safety will be my top priorities as Attorney General."
Miller’s office did not respond to a request for comment to the survey results.