Nate Willems (D) defeated incumbent Brenna Bird (R) in the general election for attorney general of Iowa on Nov. 3, 2026. Click here for detailed results.

Bird was the first Republican to serve as the state's attorney general since 1979. A Republican attorney general had not won re-election in Iowa since 1974. In 2022, Bird defeated then-incumbent Tom Miller (D) 50.8% to 49.1%. In the 2024 presidential election, President Donald Trump (R) defeated Kamala Harris (D) in the state 55.7% to 42.5%.

According to Sabato's Crystal Ball's Louis Jacobson, "[Willems] starts as a decided underdog, unless Democrats can get a midterm rebound in a state that has become considerably redder in recent election cycles."

Both the Republican Attorneys General Association (RAGA) and the Democratic Attorneys General Association (DAGA) identified this as a competitive election. As of July 21, 2026, the RAGA had donated $1.5 million to Bird, and the DAGA had donated $1.5 million to Willems.

Before serving as attorney general, Bird served as Guthrie County Attorney and Fremont County Attorney. Bird also worked as an attorney at Bird Law Office, PLLC.

Bird ran on her record. She said, "We've doubled the number of prosecutors in our office that help to prosecute murderers, rapists and child molesters. We've improved our victim services across the whole state, and we now have a dedicated cold case unit that works on the over 400 unsolved homicides around Iowa."

Willems represented District 29 in the Iowa House of Representatives from 2009 to 2013. His professional experience included working as an attorney at Rush & Nicholson, PLC.

Willems ran on his experience practicing labor and employment law. He said he would "want the Attorney General's Office to adopt the mindset and the mentality that it goes to work every day for regular Iowans, workers, consumers and seniors and is not focused on Washington politics and political lawsuits."

The attorney general is an executive office in all 50 states that serves as the chief legal advisor and chief law enforcement officer for the state government and is empowered to prosecute violations of state law, represent the state in legal disputes, and issue legal advice to state agencies and the legislature.

Iowa was one of 24 states with a Republican triplex, meaning Republicans held the governorship, the secretary of state's office, and the attorney general's office. The next gubernatorial and secretary of state elections also occurred in 2026.