Photo by Robin Opsahl/Iowa Capital Dispatch A voter submits a ballot for the 2024 general election on the first day of early voting in 2024 at the Polk County Election Office in Des Moines.

Democratic candidates running for statewide offices the 2026 election said Wednesday that the Republican secretary of state and attorney general are compromising Iowans’ privacy and personal data by sharing voter information with the U.S. Department of Justice.

Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate confirmed Tuesday that Iowa turned over voter registration data, including personally identifiable information like driver’s license and Society Security numbers, at the request of the DOJ. Pate said in a news release he complied with the DOJ’s request only after consulting with the Iowa Attorney General’s Office and having the Secretary of State’s office legal team review the “legal authority” of the request.

The state employees confirmed that the U.S. attorney general has the power to demand voter registration data under the federal Civil Rights Act, and that the Federal Driver’s Privacy Protection Act also permits government entities to share certain drivers license data with one another, Pate’s release stated. These federal laws have supremacy over the limitations on releasing voter information in state law, according to Pate.

Pate, the top election official in Iowa, said the information was turned over because the state is legally obligated to comply with the request, but added, “we do not take the obligation to turn this information over lightly. The Department of Justice has assured us that the data will be protected appropriately under federal law, and we expect them to uphold that promise.”

“We are providing this information to the Department of Justice because we must comply with federal law,” Pate said in a statement. “It is a well-established fact and law that states are responsible for elections and voter list maintenance, and we urge the federal government to keep that in mind as they execute their duties to prosecute federal election misconduct.”

Other states have not chosen to comply with the DOJ request. In response, the federal department has moved to sue 30 states, as well as the District of Columbia, for not providing the full voter registration data requested, which would include driver’s license and Social Security information.

Ryan Peterman, a Democrat who is running for Iowa secretary of state in 2026, criticized Pate’s decision to provide the DOJ voter information, saying the move was “indefensible and should worry every Iowan.” Peterman disputed the assertion that Iowa was required to share the information, saying that argument was “clearly contradicted by the fact that the DOJ has had every single lawsuit seeking this very data dismissed in court so far,” including in Arizona.

“Iowans deserve a Secretary of State who will fight for all Iowans, not one who gives into the demands of his party leaders,” Peterman said in a statement. “As Secretary of State, I will always protect Iowa voters’ private data, because when Iowans register to vote, they deserve to know their information will be handled safely and securely.”

Pate has also expressed concerns about the role President Donald Trump’s administration is seeking to play in the upcoming midterms. In April, the Des Moines Register reported Pate said he had “serious concerns” about Trump’s executive order to compile a federal list of eligible voters.

In addition to the most recent action on voter registration, Iowa had previously already shared its state driver’s license data to the federal government in December as part of a multi-state settlement seeking access to the federal Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) database. This move was announced by Pate and Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird, who said sharing the driver’s license information ensured people without U.S. citizenship were not able to participate in Iowa elections.

Nate Willems, the Democrat running for Iowa attorney general in the upcoming election, criticized Bird’s approval of sharing Iowans’ personal information with the federal government, pointing to AG’s office being consulted by the Secretary of State when deciding to comply with the DOJ request.

“The attorney general should always fight to protect the privacy of Iowans and protect their personal data, including when the federal government takes unprecedented steps to interfere with a state’s ability to administer elections,” Willems said in a statement Wednesday. “While attorneys general across the country, both Republicans and Democrats alike, have stood up to this overreach, Brenna Bird chose to rubber-stamp the request and hand over Iowans’ information.”

Both Willems and Peterman are the only Democrats running for each respective statewide office, meaning they are expected to face off against Bird and Pate — Republican incumbents who also do not face primary challenges — in the 2026 general election. While Republicans have won overwhelmingly in recent elections and currently hold all but one statewide elected office, some election forecasters predict Democratic candidates could deliver upsets in the upcoming midterms.

A Wednesday memo first reported by Politico from the Global Strategy Group, a Democratic polling firm, found Willems was only trailing Bird by 2 percentage points — 43% to 45% — in a survey of likely Iowa general election voters conducted April 6 and April 9, 2026.