Ted Cruz

The road to majorities in both the U.S. House and Senate could run through Iowa, Sen. Ted Cruz is warning Iowa voters.

The Texas Republican visited Iowa on Friday, July 24, to speak at the annual Barn Bash fundraiser for Attorney General Brenna Bird. Cruz won the Republican Iowa Caucuses in 2016, defeating Donald Trump and Marco Rubio.

Bird, who took office in 2023, is running for a second term against labor attorney and former Democratic state legislator Nate Willems. The two recently announced comparable fundraising results since the June primary election, although Bird has a substantial advantage in cash on hand.

Bird and Cruz sought to further bolster that campaign chest Friday at an event that included auctioning off pies Bird made. As keynote speaker, Cruz focused most of his remarks on touting Republicans' record in Washington and denigrating Democrats, but assured the Republican faithful in attendance that their efforts could have national importance.

"Iowa is a battleground for the entire country," he said. "There is a very real possibility that the state of Iowa will decide control of the United States Senate, and the House of Representatives, and the left has a target on the state of Iowa."

Cruz told listeners the first 18 months of President Trump's second term have seen Republicans "winning historic victories in Washington," including sharp drops in illegal immigration, murders and drug deaths, as well as major tax cuts and educational reforms.

"It is literally the case there are thousands of Americans alive who would not be alive if the Democrats had continued to run things," he claimed.

On Democrats, Cruz had particular scorn for New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and accused the party of a wholesale turn to socialism.

"We are witnessing a literal Communist takeover of the Democrat Party," he said, to loud applause.

Bird, for her part, focused her remarks on her record in office, including efforts to pursue alleged illegal voting, scams and crypto ATM companies, and Big Tech companies such as TikTok. In her first two years, she noted, her office was kept busy filing lawsuits against actions taken by the Biden administration.

"Now we are plenty busy suing California for violating the Constitution and trying to have electric vehicle mandates, electric truck mandates and even telling hog farmers in Iowa how to raise a hog in Iowa from California," she said. "Absolutely nuts, but very important that we go to court and fight for farmers."

On Willems, her opponent, Bird described him as "dangerous and extreme" and said in his time as a legislator, Willems had voted against gun rights legislation, agricultural trespass laws, and crackdowns on welfare eligibility. She defended her push to prosecute election crime, which to date has had a mixed record in court.

"There is no acceptable amount of cheating in an Iowa election," she said.

In remarks to the press after the event, Bird said her efforts against California mandates are particularly important given the current poor farm economy.

"It's a tough time right now for farmers, but one thing we know is farmers know that farming is worth it, they're keeping on, working hard, raising their crops and feeding their families, but we need some relief in the farm economy right now," she said.

Cruz called Bird a friend and urged attendees to support her.

"Brenna has principle. She has courage," he said. "She actually believes in defending the Constitution."