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Republicans lead in Iowa statewide executive offices [1]

['Jared Strong', 'Kathie Obradovich', 'More From Author', '- November']

Date: 2022-11-09

Republicans were leading in all of Iowa’s statewide executive offices Tuesday, but only one race had a projected winner and several others were neck-and-neck.

Here’s where the races stood early Wednesday:

Attorney general

Republican Brenna Bird was leading longtime incumbent Attorney General Tom Miller by a narrow margin early Wednesday.

Miller, a Democrat, sought his 11th term and has held the position for a total of about four decades. Bird is the Guthrie County attorney. She had 51.2% of the vote to 48.8% for Miller in unofficial results.

Miller, 78, is the longest-serving state attorney general in the country and had cross-party support, according to a recent Iowa Poll, which found that 14% of people who planned to vote for U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley and Gov. Kim Reynolds, both Republicans, also planned to vote for Miller.

Miller has touted his efforts to protect consumers from fraud and to hold opioid manufacturers accountable for addictions.

Bird, who was elected Guthrie County attorney in 2018, said she would use the power of the state office to challenge President Joe Biden’s executive orders and to back Iowa’s laws — including the 2018 “fetal heartbeat” abortion law — in court. That law is being relitigated in light of recent Iowa and U.S. Supreme Court decisions, and Miller isn’t representing Reynolds because of his support for abortion.

“I could not zealously assert the state’s position because of my core belief that the statute, if upheld, would undermine rights and protections for women,” Miller said this summer. “In my nearly 40 years in office, I have declined to represent the state in only one other similar situation.”

Gov. Kim Reynolds said in May she desires an attorney general who is more agreeable with her agenda. Bird has said she will challenge the Biden administration on regulations including mask and vaccine mandates, environmental restrictions and border policies.

Bird has also emphasized her support from law enforcement officers in the state, noting that she received endorsements from most of the state’s sheriffs. She challenged Miller in 2010 but lost by about 11 percentage points.

Bird had considerable financial support this year, including contributions of $1 million in September and $800,000 in October from the Republican Attorneys General Association, according to state records.

Treasurer

Republican state Sen. Roby Smith of Davenport was narrowly leading Democratic incumbent Michael Fitzgerald late Tuesday.

Smith had 51.6% of the vote to 48.4% for Fitzgerald in unofficial results, with 90% of precincts reporting.

Fitzgerald, first elected in 1983, is the longest-serving state treasurer in the country. He said his plan if reelected would be to build on programs he initiated in office, including Iowa’s 529 College Saving Programs, which invests and distributes money to help families save for higher education costs free of federal and state taxes.

Smith, who has served in the Iowa Senate since 2011, said during a debate in October that he would advocate for tax cuts in the Legislature, and he faulted Fitzgerald for not registering in favor of recent Republican tax-cut legislation. Fitzgerald responded that it was the role of legislators, not the treasurer, to set tax policy for the state.

Auditor

Republican challenger Todd Halbur was narrowly leading Democratic incumbent Rob Sand in the race for state auditor.

Halbur had 50.2% of the vote to 49.8% for Sand in unofficial results with 90% of precincts reporting.

During the campaign, Sand emphasized his efforts to hold officeholders accountable regardless of party affiliation. He also cited his efforts to save taxpayers money by holding a contest that encourages local governments to find efficiencies.

Halbur, former chief financial officer for the state Alcoholic Beverages Division, is a small business owner of a school supply company and a Realtor. He said he would bring a conservative financial agenda to the office if elected.

Secretary of Agriculture

Republican incumbent Mike Naig has been reelected to a second term as Secretary of Agriculture, the Associated Press has projected.

He had 62% of the vote in unofficial results to 38% for Democrat John Norwood, with 87% of precincts reporting.

Naig has defended Iowa’s voluntary water-quality programs as effective and says Iowa has made progress with programs such as the establishment of wetlands to contain nitrogen fertilizer runoff. He says he’s worked successfully to expand markets for Iowa farm products and increased the demand for biofuels.

Norwood is a West Des Moines business consultant and a county soil and water commissioner. He says Iowa needs a better-coordinated plan to accelerate conservation and water-quality improvements, which includes taking a substantial amount of cropland out of production.

Secretary of State

Incumbent Republican Paul Pate was leading in his bid for a third term as secretary of state.

Pate had 60% of the vote and his Democratic challenger, Joel Miller, had 40% in unofficial results with 87% of precincts counted.

During his campaign, Pate touted enactment of election security efforts such as Voter ID during his tenure. He called for more voter education to combat election misinformation and disinformation.

Miller, the Linn County auditor, suffered an extra setback Tuesday when a ballot error was discovered in his county. According to the Secretary of State’s Office, the Linn County Board of Supervisors’ race was omitted on ballots for Putnam Township.

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