AG candidate Nate Willems says he’ll focus on Iowans, not out-of-state lawsuits

Democratic candidate for Iowa attorney general Nate Willems laid out his history of winning legal battles for Iowans’ benefit Friday and said his office’s priority would be helping Iowans, rather than focusing on out-of-state litigation.

Willems spoke on the Des Moines Register Political Soapbox stage at the Iowa State Fair about his bid for the state attorney general position, for which Republican Attorney General Brenna Bird is seeking reelection.

“Over the last 18 years, I’ve represented tens of thousands of Iowans and recovered tens of millions of dollars,” Willems said. “But the truth is, a lot of the work that I’ve been doing is work that the attorney general’s office could be doing but does not.”

Willems said $900 million “is stolen from Iowa workers’ paychecks” every year, through off-the-clock work, no paid overtime, stolen tips, illegal pay stub deductions and misclassification of employees as independent contractors.

In order to combat wage theft in Iowa, Willems told reporters he’s planning to form a “small unit” within state government that will work with private attorneys, nonprofits, “the labor movement” and law enforcement in cases with a “criminal element.” He also told fairgoers he would ensure that every county attorney in Iowa has the ability and resources to “prosecute the most violent felonies.”

On environmental enforcement, where Willems said Bird has given minimal fines to companies found to be polluting Iowa air and water as a “slap on the wrist,” he would “seek meaningful penalties” against these corporations.

“Corporations are reasonable, logical entities, and they see that if it costs more money to break the law rather than to follow the law, that will lead them to follow the law,” he said.

Bird campaign spokesperson Rachel Ostergren called Willems a “far-left liberal with a dangerous and radical record” in an emailed statement.

“Iowans deserve an attorney general who stands with law enforcement, upholds the law, and serves every Iowan. As Attorney General, Brenna has held companies accountable to the law, not politics,” Ostergren said in her statement. “Nate has proven he would be an extreme liberal, who would pursue an agenda Iowans cannot afford.”

During her own time at the political soapbox, Bird responded to questions about wage theft by saying they are mostly federal violations that must be dealt with by federal enforcement of wage laws.

While some cases do fall under federal law, Willems said, Iowa code has its own rules that he’s used when representing Iowa City hospital workers who were being paid “systematically, illegally late,” and emphasized state government’s role in taking on this issue.

Bird also said during her soapbox speech that she and Willems don’t see “eye to eye” on voter ID laws, which she supports, as well as other topics. Willems told reporters he will enforce the voter ID laws currently enacted, as that is the job of the attorney general,

Increasing the Attorney General Office’s focus on Iowa and its residents is one of Willems’s main goals should he be elected to the position, he said, another departure from Bird’s focus on challenging or defending various federal policies.

He added that based on Bird’s previous promise to sue the Biden administration, “it’s very foreseeable” that if she wins the attorney general spot and Rob Sand wins the gubernatorial race, “she’ll file a suit against Rob Sand at every opportunity.”

“I certainly recognize that there are times when there is a real threat to Iowans or a real harm which … Iowans have suffered, that it’s appropriate to take legal action,” Willems said. “But I really do want the office a bit more focused on Iowa, on Iowa law, on helping regular Iowans, than you know getting into political lawsuits like that.”