Nate Willems

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Nate Willems' plan to crack down on wage theft, hold greedy corporations accountable, and make sure Iowans keep their hard-earned money.

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Holding criminals accountable, supporting our first responders, and helping victims.

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Iowa seniors need an attorney general who will fight for them. That means stopping scams before they start, enforcing safety standards in nursing homes, and working with prosecutors to prevent fraud.

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Nate has always been driven toward public service and determined to make our state and community stronger. As the state's largest law firm dedicated to serving the people, the Attorney General's office has an opportunity to take on and solve serious challenges. As Attorney General, he will work with prosecutors and local law enforcement to secure convictions for violent crimes, improve consumer protections, and hold corporations accountable when they break the law.

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Creating a Dedicated Wage Theft Recovery Unit: Willems will establish a first-of-its-kind unit inside the Iowa Attorney General's office with dedicated staff focused solely on investigating employers who repeatedly ignore labor laws, including stealing wages, misclassifying workers, and more. The unit would use enforcement tools that already exist under Iowa law, meaning it can be stood up immediately, without waiting on the legislature to act.

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Cracking Down On Repeat Offenders to Stop Wage Theft: Willems will work with prosecutors to pursue criminal charges against bad actors, not just civil penalties — sending a clear message that stealing wages is a crime.

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Partnering With Private Attorneys, Unions, and Legal Aid to Reach More Workers: The unit would work directly with Iowa's unions, legal aid organizations, and private attorneys already handling wage claims, expanding the office's reach without waiting to build capacity from scratch.

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"The Attorney General's office is the largest law firm in the state of Iowa, and it's the only one that's supposed to work for regular Iowans," Willems said. "We should use every tool at our disposal to make sure Iowa workers are receiving the pay and benefits they have earned."

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A direct line for Iowa workers to report wage theft to the Attorney General's Office — through a hotline or online intake form routed straight to an attorney or investigator. Workers would finally have a partner in these disputes beyond hiring a private attorney just to get their own wages back.

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Focused enforcement on the violations Iowa workers report most often: employers who skim or withhold tips, misclassify workers to deny them what they are owed, make employees work off the clock, and paychecks illegally docked without a worker's consent.

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Enforcement focused on corporations who intentionally break the rules or ignore repeated warnings. The office would catalog violations, work with other state agencies to monitor repeat offenders, and pursue criminal charges against bad actors — not just civil penalties — sending a clear message that stealing wages is a crime.