Tom Miller
Thomas John Miller (Democratic Party) was the Attorney General of Iowa. He assumed office in 1995. He left office on January 1, 2023.
Miller (Democratic Party) ran for re-election for Attorney General of Iowa. He lost in the general election on November 8, 2022.
He previously served as city attorney for McGregor and Marquette. His earlier legal experience includes time spent in private practice, as a legislative aide to then-Rep. John Culver (D), and legal aid work in Baltimore.[1]
Biography
Miller was born and raised in Dubuque, Iowa, where his father served as county assessor. He graduated from Wahlert High School in 1962 and Loras College in 1966, and he received his law degree from Harvard Law School in 1969. Miller moved to Baltimore, Maryland, after law school and spent two years working as a volunteer for VISTA, a cadaveric surgical training facility.
While in Maryland, Miller took a job as legislative assistant to U.S. Representative John C. Culver, taught law part-time at the Maryland School of Law and eventually became legal education director at the Baltimore Legal Aid Bureau.[2] He moved back to Iowa in 1973 and opened a private practice.
Prior to entering politics in 1974, Miller was city attorney of McGregor and Marquette, Iowa.[2] He returned to private practice upon the expiration of his third term as Iowa Attorney General, working as a Partner/Attorney, Faegre & Benson Law Firm from 1991-1994.[3]
Miller is a former president of the National Association of Attorneys General. Outside the state, Miller led the roughly three year-long settlement negotiations - ending in Feb. 2012 - between 49 state attorneys general and five top U.S. financial institutions tied to home foreclosures.
Education
- Wahlert High School (1962)
- Bachelor's degree, Loras College (1966)
- Juris Doctorate degree, Harvard Law School (1969)
Political career
- 1995 - 2023: Attorney General of Iowa
- 1979-1991: Attorney General of Iowa
Elections
2022
See also: Iowa Attorney General election, 2022
General election
General election for Attorney General of Iowa
Brenna Bird defeated incumbent Thomas John Miller in the general election for Attorney General of Iowa on November 8, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Brenna Bird (R) | 50.8 | 611,432 |
 | Thomas John Miller (D) | 49.1 | 590,890 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.1 | 801 | ||
| Total votes: 1,203,123 | |||
 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Attorney General of Iowa
Incumbent Thomas John Miller advanced from the Democratic primary for Attorney General of Iowa on June 7, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Thomas John Miller | 99.7 | 146,284 |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.3 | 399 | ||
| Total votes: 146,683 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Republican primary election
Republican primary for Attorney General of Iowa
Brenna Bird advanced from the Republican primary for Attorney General of Iowa on June 7, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Brenna Bird | 99.6 | 163,114 |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.4 | 670 | ||
| Total votes: 163,784 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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2018
- See also: Iowa Attorney General election, 2018
General election
General election for Attorney General of Iowa
Incumbent Thomas John Miller defeated Marco Battaglia in the general election for Attorney General of Iowa on November 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Thomas John Miller (D) | 76.5 | 880,531 |
 | Marco Battaglia (L) | 22.8 | 262,131 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.7 | 8,237 | ||
| Total votes: 1,150,899 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Attorney General of Iowa
Incumbent Thomas John Miller advanced from the Democratic primary for Attorney General of Iowa on June 5, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Thomas John Miller | 100.0 | 157,483 |
| Total votes: 157,483 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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2014
- See also: Iowa attorney general election, 2014
Miller ran for re-election as attorney general in 2014.[4] He was unopposed for the Democratic nomination in the primary election on June 3, 2014, and faced a single challenger in the general election, Republican Adam Gregg. Tom Miller won the general election on November 4, 2014.
Results
| Attorney General of Iowa, 2014 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic |  Tom Miller Incumbent |
56.1% | 616,711 | |
| Republican | Adam Gregg | 43.8% | 481,046 | |
| Nonpartisan | Write-in votes | 0.1% | 1,249 | |
| Total Votes | 1,099,006 | |||
| Election results via Iowa Secretary of State | ||||
2010
- See also: Iowa Attorney General election, 2010
- 2010 Race for Attorney General - Democratic Primary
- Tom Miller ran unopposed in this contest
| 2010 Race for Attorney General - General Election[5] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote Percentage | |
| Democratic Party |  Tom Miller
|
55.5% | |
| Republican Party | Brenna Findley | 44.4% | |
| Write-In | 0.1% | ||
| Total Votes | 1,094,633 | ||
2006
- 2006 Race for Attorney General - Democratic Primary and General Election
- Tom Miller ran unopposed in both contests
2002
- 2002 Race for Attorney General - Democratic Primary
- Tom Miller ran unopposed in this contest
| 2002 Race for Attorney General - General Election[6] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote Percentage | |
| Democratic Party | Tom Miller
|
61.6% | |
| Republican Party | Dave Millage | 36.7% | |
| Libertarian Party | Edward F. Noyes | 1.7% | |
| Total Votes | 993,254 | ||
1998
- 1998 Race for Attorney General - Democratic Primary
- Tom Miller ran unopposed in this contest
| 1998 Race for Attorney General - General Election[7] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote Percentage | |
| Democratic Party | Tom Miller
|
65.4% | |
| Republican Party | Mark Schwickerath | 32.4% | |
| Natural Law | Nancy L. Watkins | 2.2% | |
| Total Votes | 922,155 | ||
Campaign themes
2022
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Thomas John Miller did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.
Presidential preference
2008
Miller and Iowa State Treasurer Michael Fitzgerald were among the first state officials in the country to back United States Senator Barack Obama for President on February 11, 2007.[8]
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
Noteworthy events
Mortgage foreclosure negotiations
Miller led the roughly three year-long multi-state negotiations in the effort to settle with several U.S. banks over alleged abuses and faulty documentation used in the seizure of homes since the crisis began in 2008. The deal, which 49 states ultimately agreed upon in February 2012 (Oklahoma's Scott Pruitt made an independent deal for his state), was expected to give up to $40 billion to struggling homeowners, and an estimated "1 million U.S. homeowners who were "underwater" on their mortgages -- with principal exceeding the home's value -- were eligible for as much as $20,000 in relief of principal owed."[9][10]
Attorneys general from numerous states collaborated on the deal to provide immediate assistance to their states' constituents, with notable exceptions, including California's Kamala D. Harris (D), New York's Eric Schneiderman (D) and Delaware's Beau Biden (D).[9]
Campaign finance investigation
According to the National Institute on Money in State Politics, which investigated the foreclosure practices of prominent banks, Miller accepted significant contributions to his 2010 re-election campaign from out-of-state lawyers. Without making any specific allegations, NIMISP suggested the timing and scale of Miller's contributions from out-of-state and legal sources was related to his investigation.
NIMISP noted that Miller's 2010 contributions from out-of-state sources and from lawyers and lobbyists in general greatly exceeded what he had previously brought in from those demographics. Although Miller raised twice as much in 2010 as he had in his 2006 and 2002 campaigns combined, he raised more than ten times as much from lawyers and lobbyists in the finance, insurance and real estate sectors. In particular, $170,300 -- over 20 percent of Miller's total contributions -- came between September 30 and election day, after Miller announced the beginning of his investigation on October 13. Although it is not unusual for a large proportion of candidates' contributions to come in the last month before an election, the NIMISP report argued that the discrepancy between Miller's out-of-state contributions from lawyers and lobbyists in 2010 and in previous campaigns suggested a link with his investigation.[11]
ACORN
Miller was one of six state attorneys general, all of whom belonged to the Democratic Party, who received the highest rating, a letter grade of A+, from the June 2008 Survey and Scorecard report published by the political organization, ACORN. The report was published in an effort to shine the spotlight on state attorneys general "leading the fight to protect homeowners from joining the flood of Americans losing their homes to foreclosure," according to the group.[12]
Notable endorsements
This section displays endorsements this individual made in elections within Ballotpedia's coverage scope.
Personal
Note: Please contact us if the personal information below requires an update.
Miller resides in McGregor, Iowa. He has a son named Matt.[2]
See also
2022 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Office of the Iowa Attorney General, "About Attorney General Tom Miller," accessed February 8, 2019
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Attorney General Tom Miller, "About Tom," accessed February 17, 2012
- ↑ Project Vote Smart, "Thomas Miller," accessed February 17, 2012
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedreleection14 - ↑ Iowa Secretary of State - 2010 General Election Results
- ↑ Iowa Secretary of State - Official 2002 General Election Results
- ↑ Iowa Secretary of State - Official 1998 General Election Results
- ↑ The American Presidency Project, "Press Release - Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller and State Treasurer Michael Fitzgerald Endorse Barack Obama for President," February 11, 2007
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 WDTV, "Attorney General Adds West Virginia To Mortgage Settlement," June 18, 2014
- ↑ Book of States: Council of State Governments, "Attorneys General: Valuing Privacy in the Digital Age," July 1, 2013
- ↑ National Institute on Money in Politics, "Campaign Contributions Rise When Foreclosure Investigation Begins," April 20, 2011
- ↑ ACORN "Attorneys General Take Action: Real Leadership in Fighting Foreclosures" June 2008
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by - |
Attorney General of Iowa 1995-2023 |
Succeeded by Brenna Bird (R) |
| Preceded by - |
Attorney General of Iowa 1979-1991 |
Succeeded by - |
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
State of Iowa Des Moines (capital) |
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