Updated

DES MOINES, Iowa -- A Republican candidate for Iowa attorney general criticized the Democratic incumbent on Monday for accepting a $10,000 campaign contribution in 2005 from the family at the heart of a national egg recall.

After candidate Brenna Findley admonished Attorney General Tom Miller about the contribution in a news release, he agreed to return the money.

Peter DeCoster, the son of Wright County Egg owner Austin "Jack" DeCoster, made the $10,000 donation to Miller on Dec. 28, 2005. The donation came after a 2000 agreement between the state and Jack DeCoster, in which he agreed to be labeled a "habitual offender," a designation intended to prevent him from opening any new farms for about four years. He earlier had been repeatedly fined for environmental violations, many of them involving hog waste.

Wright County Egg now is at the heart of a recall of more than 550 million eggs that could contain salmonella. Some of the eggs were produced by another company, Hillandale Farms, that received feed from one of DeCoster's businesses.

"It is shocking that Miller would accept $10,000 from the DeCosters," Findley said. "Iowans deserve an open and transparent political process, free of backscratching and special deals."

A telephone call to DeCoster spokeswoman Hinda Mitchell wasn't immediately returned.

Miller said he would return the money, but he defended his record of enforcing environmental laws against the DeCoster operations.

"In this state, no one was stronger on DeCoster than our office," Miller said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press. "We were the ones on the front lines prosecuting him."

Miller said his office effectively prosecuted DeCoster, making him the first and only person to be deemed a "habitual violator" in Iowa.

"We had a huge battle with Jack DeCoster in the '90s over the pollution issue at the hog lots," Miller said. "We got enough violations prosecuted that he saw it would be inevitable that we would get habitual violators status, so he agreed to that."

After that action in 2000, Miller said DeCoster complied with environmental rules and he saw no reason why he shouldn't accept the contribution. He conceded, though, that the egg recall changed everything.

"Had I known that they would have these problems five years later, I would not have accepted that contribution," he said. "I'm going to return the contribution."

Miller was first elected to office in 1978 and has served continuously, save for one term after he lost a Democratic gubernatorial primary in 1990.

Findley has waged a strong campaign, and she's raised considerable money, with the latest financial disclosure reports showing her with $164,330 in reserves, while Miller reported $230,324.