Big investment in campaign to oust Tom Miller comes up short

Democratic Attorney General Tom Miller held onto his seat Tuesday night, cruising to victory with 55 percent of the vote and marking the end of a surprisingly tough battle for the seven-term incumbent. In his way was Brenna Findley — a challenger who received hundreds of thousands of dollars and strong support from the Iowa Republican Party. This investment, it seems, did not pay off from the GOP last night.

Seeing weaknesses in Miller’s brand after the Iowa egg recall and general attitudes toward Democratic candidates nationwide, the Iowa GOP saw an opportunity to unseat the perennial favorite. Findley was the clear frontrunner in fundraising, raking in more than $700,000 between July 15 and Oct. 14 — $550,000 of which came from the Republican Party of Iowa.

Outside groups also targeted Miller, including a TV ad attacking paid for by the American Future Fund and another paid for by its sister organization, The Progress Project. Findley also saw wide support from potential GOP 2012 presidential candidates, including former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, U.S. Rep. Mike Pence, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum.

Even with this support, Findley couldn’t finish it out at the end. Regardless, she said she is proud of the campaign that she ran.

“One good thing about the race is that we were able to bring up a number of important issues that are facing Iowans, and Iowans learned a lot more about the Attorney General’s office and the role of the attorney general in public policy and the legal environment of the state — I think that’s a plus for Iowans,” she said. “I’m very proud of our whole team, I think they did a great job — our grassroots network and the counties did a great job running against somebody who was elected in 1978, it’s quite a challenge.”

Early in September, many political analysts labeled the attorney general race a toss-up due to national political tides favoring the GOP and due to Findley’s aggressive campaigning. In October, The Iowa Independent reported in the previous three months, Findley has spent $661,251, compared to only $298,603 for Miller.

Still, Miller pulled it off, crediting the faith Iowans have for him.

“Only way I can thank the people of Iowa for having faith in me is to do my job and use the law to help ordinary people,” Miller said, later adding: “I was able to win because of the wonderful voters of this state, and because of my wonderful staff.”

He went on to speak about the “unfinished agenda” he looks forward to tackling starting tomorrow, mentioning his work leading national investigation of foreclosure fraud and working towards improved consumer protection.

During her campaign, Findley promised to stop the enforcement of federal health care reform. She also spoke positively about the controversial immigration passed in Arizona earlier this year, and attacked Miller on not challenging an Iowa Supreme Court ruling that legalized same-sex marriage. These issues, Findley said, were important to bring to the forefront for Iowa voters.

“I believe in the Constitution and our free market system, and I believe that Iowa is the best to live and I want to keep it that way,” she said. “I want to do everything I can to serve to help get out state back on track.”