King’s top staffer running for Iowa AG

Republican U.S. Rep. Steve King’s longtime chief of staff, an Iowa farm girl who was home-schooled and went on to the University of Chicago School of Law before entering politics, has announced her bid to become the state’s attorney general.

Republican Brenna Findley

Brenna Findley, 33, of Dexter, says she’ll take the values she learned on a central Iowa farm to the attorney general’s office.

“I want to make a difference for Iowa, and I’ve noticed that many of the people that I went to school with that grew up in Iowa weren’t able to stay in Iowa in part because the jobs weren’t there for them when they graduated,” Findley said in an interview.

A conservative Republican, Findley said it’s not in the state’s best interests to have one-party control of government. In short, Democrats need oversight, and the perfect place for that is in the attorney general’s office, Findley said.

“The attorney general’s office right now, and the governor, and both houses of the Legislature are under one-party control, and I think the taxpayers need a legal watchdog who is on their side,” Findley said.

In announcing her bid, Findley is seeking a fall match-up with 65-year-old Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller, who has served in that office for seven terms, having first been elected in 1978. Other Republicans could emerge for a June primary.

New direction

Findley notes that at age 33 she’s older than Miller was when he first ran for the job in 1974 at age 29. When asked what Miller has done wrong in his years as attorney general or what she would do differently, Findley didn’t point to anything specific.

“I just think we need a new direction for Iowa and a new focus in the attorney general’s office,” she said.

Findley would not offer details on what the “new direction” would look like or whether she disagrees with certain prosecutions Miller has pursued or administrative decisions he’s made.

“Right now, I am focused on listening to people around the state before I start proposing some of my ideas for what I would do differently,” she said, noting she planned to travel to all 99 of Iowa’s counties.

Despite serving seven years as King’s chief of staff, Findley was also unable to point to any specific bills or pieces of legislation when asked what the Kiron Republican’s major accomplishments have been during his tenure in the U.S. House, saying only that he has worked hard for western Iowa and that his office and staff “are responsive to the needs of the people in the 32 counties of the Fifth District.”

“I think those are Steve King’s accomplishments, and certainly as chief of staff I had a role in them, but I want to be careful in this campaign to stand on my own two feet and talk about my qualifications and vision for the attorney general’s job,” Findley said.

She said King is “supportive” of her bid for attorney general but was not sure if he would be hitting the campaign trail for her.

“We’re still putting together our campaign schedule,” she said.

Rural roots

Raised on a farm near Dexter in Dallas County, Findley attended public school from kindergarten through seventh grade. Her family home-schooled her from eighth grade to high school graduation before she attended Drake University, where she graduated with honors after studying political science, history and Russian.

“I would say the biggest difference (between home school and college) was as a college student sitting in lectures to take notes,” she said, noting that the kitchen table was her place of learning on the farm.

Upon graduation from the prestigious law school at University of Chicago, Findley worked for a time in private practice in California’s Silicon Valley.

She quickly transitioned to politics, and after serving as King’s deputy chief of staff, was eveantually named his top aide.

Findley worked in Iowa and Washington, D.C., but maintained her official residence in Dexter. She managed King’s six offices, five in Iowa and one in Washington, and oversaw the congressman’s office budget as well as advised him as senior Judiciary Committee staff member.

“As you know, Steve King isn’t an attorney, but he serves on that committee,” Findley said.

While she was at University of Chicago, Barack Obama taught classes on constitutional law, but Findley did not have the future president as a professor. She did, however, have some interaction with Obama.

“I had conservations with Barack Obama when he was a professor, but I never took a class from him,” Findley said.

The two discussed state legislative matters, she said, as Findley had worked in the Iowa Legislature during school and Obama served as a state senator in Illinois.

Focus on small business

If elected attorney general, Findley said, she would fight for small businesses.

“I grew up on a family farm, and as you know, family farms are small businesses,” she said.

As a congressional staffer, Findley worked with businesses when they brought problems to King for administrative action and legislation. She says her key jobs as attorney general will be to enforce the laws on the books and stand up for the Iowa Constitution.

That said, Findley is a Catholic with strong political convictions.

She said marriage is an institution that should exist between one man and one woman. And though she believes abortion should be illegal unless the life of the mother is in danger, she declined to answer a question about what the penalties should be for women who have abortions or physicians who perform them should abortion again be outlawed.

“The penalty, that’s really up to the state legislature,” she said.

Added Findley, “I don’t intend to answer hypothetical questions that don’t have a bearing on the office.”