Attorney General Brenna Bird discusses recent lawsuits, 2026 reelection bid

Ray Baccari
CBS 2 Iowa

June 23, 2026 at 8:08 PM

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird is getting closer to the end of her first term as the state’s top prosecutor.

Bird, a Republican, faces former Democratic state Rep. Nate Willems in November, discussed her reelection campaign, and recent lawsuits her office is part of, during a one-on-one interview in Cedar Rapids Tuesday. You can watch her full interview with Iowa’s News Now reporter Ray Baccari below.

Democrats see a chance to win the races for governor, U.S. Senate, and multiple U.S. House seats. Bird said it’s her “job to ask for people’s vote” and “to show what I’ve done and to make that case for Iowa” when asked if she has any concerns the competitive nature of those races will trickle down to hers.

Bird’s office announced Monday she has joined a lawsuit with 16 other attorneys general to challenge the California Plastic Act, which requires companies to use less plastic and create less packaging waste.

“California can certainly make laws within their own borders, but they don’t get to tell Iowa what to do,” Bird said.

Bird’s office is also suing Meta, alleging that social media platforms Instagram and Facebook have been harmful to Iowa children.

Bird also took pride in other initiatives from her first term.

“We’ve doubled the number of prosecutors in our office that help to prosecute murderers, rapists and child molesters,” Bird said. “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.”

At one point this election cycle Bird mulled a run for governor, ultimately deciding to instead run for attorney general again. She said she doesn’t feel that her work in her current position is done yet, and she doesn’t “like to leave a job partly finished.”

Bird didn’t endorse in the GOP primary for governor, but is now supporting Republican nominee Zach Lahn.

“I think that Zach Lahn is a strong candidate, and he’s committed to campaigning all over the place,” Bird said.

The general election is Nov. 3.