Thomas John Miller (born August 11, 1944) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the 33rd and current

Attorney General of Iowa The Attorney General of Iowa is the chief legal officer of the State of Iowa, United States. The office was created February 9, 1853. The Office of the Attorney General is housed in the Lucas State Office Building in Des Moines; the attorney gen ...

. After the defeat of

West Virginia Attorney General West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some R ...

Darrell McGraw in 2012 when running for reelection, Miller became the longest serving

State Attorney General The state attorney general in each of the 50 U.S. states, of the federal district, or of any of the territories is the chief legal advisor to the state government and the state's chief law enforcement officer. In some states, the attorney gener ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

, having been in office since 1995. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served in the same position from 1979 to 1991 as the state's 31st Attorney General. Miller's combined tenure of over 38 years in office makes him the longest serving State Attorney General in United States history, having surpassed

Frank J. Kelley Frank Joseph Kelley (December 31, 1924 – March 5, 2021) was an American politician who served as the 50th Attorney General of the U.S. state of Michigan. His 37-year term of office, from 1961 to 1999, made him both the youngest (36 years old) ...

's 37-year term of office as

Michigan Attorney General The Attorney General of the State of Michigan is the fourth-ranking official in the U.S. state of Michigan. The officeholder is elected statewide in the November general election alongside the governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, m ...

; Kelley still holds the record for longest ''continuous'' tenure as an attorney general, having served from 1961 to 1999.

Early life and education

Miller was raised in

Dubuque, Iowa Dubuque (, ) is the county seat of Dubuque County, Iowa, United States, located along the Mississippi River. At the time of the 2020 census, the population of Dubuque was 59,667. The city lies at the junction of Iowa, Illinois, and Wisconsin, a r ...

to parents Elmer and Betty Miller. His father was a longtime county assessor. He graduated from Wahlert Catholic High School in Dubuque, earned his undergraduate degree at

Loras College Loras College is a private Catholic college in Dubuque, Iowa. It has an enrollment of approximately 1,600 students and is the oldest post-secondary institution in the state of Iowa. The school offers both undergraduate and graduate degree ...

in Dubuque, and completed his J.D. degree at

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States. Each c ...

in 1969.

Early career

Miller served as an

AmeriCorps VISTA AmeriCorps VISTA is a national service program designed to alleviate poverty. President John F. Kennedy originated the idea for VISTA, which was founded as Volunteers in Service to America in 1965, and incorporated into the AmeriCorps network of ...

volunteer in Baltimore for one year and as a legislative assistant to U.S. Representative

John Culver John Chester Culver (August 8, 1932 – December 26, 2018) was an American politician, writer and lawyer who was elected to both the United States House of Representatives (1965–1975) and United States Senate (1975–1981) from Iowa. A memb ...

of Iowa. He worked for the Baltimore Legal Aid Bureau, and taught at the

University of Maryland School of Law The University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law (formerly University of Maryland School of Law) is the law school of the University of Maryland, Baltimore and is located in Baltimore City, Maryland, U.S. Its location places Maryland L ...

. In 1973, Miller returned to northeast Iowa and opened a law practice in

McGregor, Iowa McGregor is a city in Clayton County, Iowa, United States. The population was 742 at the time of the 2020 census. McGregor is located on the Mississippi River across from Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin. Pike's Peak State Park is located just so ...

. He served as the city attorney for McGregor and

Marquette, Iowa Marquette is a city in Clayton County, Iowa, United States. The population was 429 at the time of the 2020 census, up from 421 in 2000. The city, which is located on the Mississippi River, is named after Jesuit missionary Jacques Marquette, who a ...

for five years. In 1974, he won the Democratic nomination for Attorney General of Iowa, but lost the general election to

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

incumbent Richard C. Turner.

Attorney General

Miller was first elected Attorney General of Iowa in 1978, defeating Richard Turner in a rematch. He was re-elected in 1982 and 1986. In 1990 Miller ran for governor and lost to

Donald Avenson Donald D. Avenson (September 16, 1944 – May 19, 2017) was an American politician in the state of Iowa. Early life Avenson was born on September 16, 1944, in Minneapolis, Minnesota to Donald C. and Wilma G. Avenson. The family lived in Oelwei ...

in the Democratic primary. After that loss, Miller worked in private practice with the Des Moines office of the Faegre & Benson law firm. He was again elected Attorney General in 1994, and was re-elected in 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014, and 2018. Miller narrowly lost the 2022 election to Brenna Bird (a rematch of 2010). He was the longest-serving state attorney general in U.S. history.

Electoral history

References

Explanatory notes

Citations

External links

Iowa Attorney General's office

Tom Miller for Iowa Attorney General
campaign website * , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Miller, Tom 1944 births 21st-century American politicians Harvard Law School alumni Iowa Attorneys General Iowa Democrats Iowa lawyers Living people Politicians from Dubuque, Iowa