Kcci Television · amanda rooker · September 9, 2026
A new campaign ad in Iowa's attorney general race accuses Democratic candidate Nate Willems of voting against mandatory monitoring for convicted sex offenders and warns that, if Willems "had his way," a convicted predator could be living near children without anyone knowing.
The vote cited in the ad is real. Willems did vote against a 2009 amendment that would have required at least five years of electronic monitoring for people convicted of sex offenses against minors. But the legislative record also shows that Willems later voted for the final bill, which kept electronic monitoring in Iowa law while leaving decisions about who should be monitored to corrections officials. The law also expanded the state's sex offender registry and the information available to the public.
Willems, who served two terms in the Iowa House, is challenging Republican Attorney General Brenna Bird in November.
Bird's campaign is now funding an ad that highlights a vote Willems took during his time in the Iowa Legislature.
At the time, lawmakers were considering Senate File 340, a sweeping rewrite of Iowa's sex offender registry laws. The legislation ultimately passed the Iowa House 93-3 and was signed into law the following month.
Before the final vote, Republican lawmakers offered House Amendment 1712. It was not a standalone vote solely on electronic monitoring. The amendment proposed replacing the underlying bill with a different version of the broader sex offender legislation.
One provision would have required electronic monitoring for at least five years for a person convicted of a sex offense against a minor who was on probation, parole, work release, a special sentence or another form of conditional release.
Willems voted against the amendment. So did 65 other members of the Iowa House, including Republicans and Democrats. The amendment failed 66-29.
On that specific point, the ad is accurate: Willems voted against an amendment containing a mandatory five-year electronic monitoring requirement for sex offenders whose offenses involved minors.
But that was not Willems' final vote on the legislation.
After the amendment failed, Willems joined the overwhelming majority of the House in voting for Senate File 340. The final bill passed 93-3 and was later signed into law.
That law did not eliminate electronic monitoring. It allowed sex offenders on probation, parole, work release, special sentences or other forms of conditional release to be supervised with electronic tracking and monitoring. Corrections officials were tasked with determining whether to use monitoring based on factors including a validated risk assessment, the offender's criminal history and other relevant factors.
The Iowa Department of Corrections later adopted rules saying electronic monitoring should be used to enhance public safety and that offenders under supervision for a current sex offense who were required to register would initially be placed on electronic monitoring, with the level subject to change based on risk assessment.
The ad goes further, telling viewers: "A convicted predator could be living in your neighborhood, near your kids, and if Nate Willems had his way, no one would know."
The legislative record does not support that characterization.
The bill Willems voted for required the state to maintain a public sex offender registry website searchable by name, county, city, ZIP code and geographic radius. It required the website to disclose information including an offender's photograph, physical description, residence and the offense that required registration.
The law also required an automated email notification system that members of the public could subscribe to for notices about additions, deletions or changes to sex offender registrations in a ZIP code, geographic radius or involving a specific offender.