Iowa

Back so soon? After summer respite, drought returns to portions of Iowa

Published

1 year ago

September 19, 2024

Back so soon? After summer respite, drought returns to portions of Iowa

Drought, Iowa’s unwelcome visitor, is creeping back into the corners of the state after a respite through the summer months.

The most recent U.S. Drought Monitor, posted Thursday, shows moderate drought in Fremont County in far southwest Iowa and in almost all of Clayton County as well as portions of Winneshiek, Allamakee, Fayette, Dubuque, Chickasaw and Bremer counties in northeast Iowa.

Meanwhile, after a warm, dry spell that has endured since mid-August, the rest of Iowa is abnormally dry, the Drought Monitor shows.

Rain coming, but more dry air follows

Even with rain expected in the short term, National Weather Service Meteorologist Craig Cogil said the outlook “dries out again” once it passes.

Iowa drought respite was brief

Iowa was drought-free for the first time in almost four years at the end of May. The state had been experiencing drought conditions since July 7, 2020, making it the longest drought since 1954-1959.

Additional rain came in June and July, at times too much, resulting in record flooding in northwest Iowa in late June.

Long-term deficit aids drought’s quick return

Cogil said the quick return of drought was aided by a long-term deficit of soil moisture. Since Jan. 1, 2020, he said, the southwest two-thirds of Iowa has experienced a 20-to-30-inch deficit in precipitation.

“Things get worse quicker than they normally would when we are already low on soil moisture,” he said.

However, drought conditions now should not affect this year’s harvest, and the lack of precipitation will be less of a concern going into the winter when soils freeze, he said.

“But if dry conditions persist into spring and summer, that would be a concern,” he said.

Crops OK, but pasture could be a concern for farmers

Aaron Sqaeugling, an Iowa State University Extension field agronomist for southwest Iowa, acknowledged that conditions are dry in his area, but this late in the season, the biggest impact is on pastures needed to graze livestock.

As for corn and soybeans, the dry conditions may somewhat reduce the predicted record yields, but should provide for an “early and fast harvest” with little need for extra drying, Sqaeugling said.

On the positive side for livestock producers, he said the abundance of rain through the growing season provided for better-than-normal hay crops.

“The one thing we may be short of is fall pasture,” he said.

Water utility takes step to ensure supply

As of Sept, 11, Des Moines Water Works had raised flashboards on its Raccoon River dam to increase water depth around its intakes there, according to a posting on its Facebook page.

Winter could limit further moisture loss

Once the crops are in and colder winter air arrives, evaporation will be reduced considerably and could limit further moisture losses, Cogil said.

“There has been a long-term shortage of precipitation since 2020, but we did get a nice break earlier this summer,” he said.

Kevin Baskins covers jobs and the economy for the Des Moines Register. Reach him at kbaskins@registermedia.com.

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Iowa

Iowa voters shifted left in 2025. Is a blue wave coming in 2026?

Published

4 hours ago

January 12, 2026

Press Room

Iowa voters shifted left in 2025. Is a blue wave coming in 2026?

In five of six legislative special elections last year, Democrats overperformed by more than 20 percentage points compared with the 2024 presidential election.

Democrats won four of six special elections in Iowa in 2025, and improved their performance over the 2024 presidential race in all six.
Turnout in the special elections was lower than in typical general elections.
Iowa Republicans, meanwhile, continued to expand their lead in active voter registration totals in 2025.

Iowa Democrats ended 2025 on a high note, winning a Dec. 30 special election in Des Moines’ western suburbs by a wider margin than during the presidential election.

That capped off a year in which Democrats won four of the six legislative special elections and ended Republicans’ supermajority in the Iowa Senate.

In five of those six special elections, Democrats overperformed by more than 20 percentage points compared with 2024.

They’ll look to build off the momentum going into the pivotal 2026 midterms that will include open races for governor and U.S. senator as well as regular Iowa congressional and Legislature elections.

Whether 2025’s Democratic Party victories are bellwethers or blips will play out this year.

Democrats saw Iowa special elections consistently tilt left

Though Republicans won in two special elections in 2025s, their margins of victory were significantly smaller than 2024.

Republican Wendy Larson won December’s special election for the vacant seat in House District 7 by 40 points. That’s a wide margin, but wide margins are expected for Republicans in that part of the state: The party holds strong advantages in voter registration totals in Calhoun, Pocahontas, Sac and Webster counties, where the district is located.

And even that 40-point margin represented a shift toward the Democrats.

In the 2024 presidential election, Republican Donald Trump defeated Democrat Kamala Harris by 50 points in House District 7. Democrats didn’t even field a candidate for the district’s legislative seat that year.

The 10-point shift toward Democrats from the 2024 presidential election to the 2025 special election in House District 7 was the smallest of any legislative district that held a special election last year.

Each of the five other districts shifted toward Democrats by more than twice as much.

Moreover, those special elections were spread across the state.

Democrats consistently gathered a greater share of votes from Senate District 1 in the northwest part of the state to House District 100 in the state’s southeast corner, ranging from 10 to 26 percentage points.

The two seats Democrats flipped in special elections — Senate Districts 1 and 35 — each shifted to the left by more than 20 points compared with the 2024 presidential election.

In Senate District 1, Trump outpaced Harris by 11 percentage points in 2024, while Democrat Caitlin Drey won the seat there by more than 10 points in August.

In Senate District 35, Trump’s victory margin in Senate District 35 was more than 21 points. In January 2025, Democrat Mike Zimmer won the district’s Senate seat by 3½ points.

In 2022, Republicans won both those seats by even wider margins than Trump in 2024.

Should Democrats expect momentum to carry over to 2026?

Pushing voters to the left in six isolated special elections is one thing. Parlaying those successes into November’s midterm elections is quite another.

Turnout was key in 2025’s special elections, and it will be again in 2026.

The numbers of votes cast in 2025’s special elections equaled roughly one-quarter to one-third the votes cast in the 2024 presidential election in those districts.

Turnout should be higher in November’s midterms.

Since 2000, the percentage of Iowa’s registered voters who have participated in the midterm elections typically has hovered around 55%. (About 75% of registered Iowans usually vote in presidential elections.)

But what determines an election is less about the number of people who show up and more about who those people are.

An increased share of those who went to the polls in the special elections were Democratic voters — or, perhaps more accurately, a greater number of Republican voters stayed home.

Republicans will be working to get those voters back to the polls this November.

Republicans maintain advantage in Iowa voter registration data

The leftward shift in last year’s special elections has yet to materialize in Iowa’s voter registration numbers.

Over roughly the past 15 years, voter registrations in Iowa have swung heavily toward Republicans.

Democrats, conversely, have lost 200,000 voters in that time, and Republicans have opened up an overall advantage of more than 10 percentage points.

Despite their victories at the ballot box in 2025, Democrats have not chipped into Republicans’ significant lead in voter registrations.

Last year was the first since at least 2000 when the share of active voters who were Republicans was at least 10 percentage points higher than the share who were Democrats throughout the entire year.

Republicans began 2026 with nearly 200,000 more active registered voters than Democrats, among their largest leads this century.

Those two parties do not comprise the entirety of Iowa’s electorate — a large share of Iowa’s active voters are not registered to a party, and a smaller amount are registered to other parties, including Libertarians.

And just because a voter is registered as a Democrat or Republican doesn’t mean they’ll vote for their party’s candidates.

But the large voter deficit indicates Democrats are starting from a less favorable position.

Their special election victories in 2025 proved they can win elections, but they’ll need to make up some ground to replicate that success in 2026.

Tim Webber is a data visualization specialist for the Register. Reach him at twebber@registermedia.com and on Twitter at @HelloTimWebber.

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Iowa

Iowa football lands commitment from FCS Freshman All-American receiver

Published

16 hours ago

January 11, 2026

Press Room

Iowa football lands commitment from FCS Freshman All-American receiver

IOWA CITY — Furman transfer receiver Evan James has committed to Iowa football, he announced Jan. 11.

James, who is listed at 6-feet and 175 pounds, will come to the Hawkeyes with three seasons of eligibility remaining.

James, a 3-star prospect in the 2025 high school recruiting class, had a standout true freshman season at Furman. In nine appearances, James accumulated 65 receptions for 796 yards and seven touchdowns. He also rushed seven times for 72 yards and one touchdown.

James was named an FCS 1st team Freshman All-American by Phil Steele.

James hauled in at least five catches in each of his nine appearances last season and went over 100 yards three times. James had a career-high 10 receptions against Campbell. He had a career-high 146 yards receiving against Chattanooga, which included a 61-yard catch.

James is the second FCS first-team Freshman All-American receiver that Iowa football has landed this transfer portal cycle.

The Hawkeyes also got a commitment from UT Rio Grande Valley receiver Tony Diaz. The addition of Diaz, who held offers from Alabama, Illinois, Kentucky, Arkansas, Virginia Tech and others, was a major recruiting win for the Hawkeyes. Diaz hauled in 68 receptions for 875 yards and 11 touchdowns as a redshirt freshman last season.

The Hawkeyes are seeing the departure of some serious contributions from their 2025 receiver room. Three of the team’s top five leaders in receiving yards during the 2025 season are moving on: Jacob Gill, Sam Phillips and Kaden Wetjen. Not to mention Seth Anderson, who was tied for second on the team lead in receiving touchdowns last season with two.

On top of that, there’s a level of uncertainty regarding what Iowa’s quarterback play is going to look like in the post-Mark Gronowski era.

But there are some pieces to inspire some hope.

The Hawkeyes have done commendable work in the transfer portal to bolster the receiver room, getting a pair of productive players at a position of need. What makes it even sweeter is that they each have three seasons of eligibility remaining, giving them time to grow and develop in the program.

Reece Vander Zee is the most prominent name that can return to the wide receiver room in 2026. Dayton Howard and KJ Parker were rotational guys in 2025 and could take a step forward next season.

The tight end room appears loaded — with the return of Addison Ostrenga, Iowa’s 2025 leading receiver DJ Vonnahme and Thomas Meyer — but the Hawkeyes still need reinforcements on the outside to get the passing game where it needs to be.

The Hawkeyes will look to sustain momentum on the offensive side of the ball in coordinator Tim Lester’s third season with the program.

Follow Tyler Tachman on X @Tyler_T15, contact via email at ttachman@gannett.com

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Iowa

Where to watch Iowa women’s basketball vs. Indiana today, TV, time

Published

1 day ago

January 11, 2026

Press Room

Where to watch Iowa women’s basketball vs. Indiana today, TV, time

Looking for a second road win this week, No. 14 Iowa women’s basketball heads to Indiana for today’s 4 p.m. contest inside Assembly Hall. BTN will televise the game.

The Hawkeyes (13-2, 4-0 Big Ten Conference) remained perfect in league play with a 67-58 win at Northwestern on Jan. 5, a game in which Iowa survived despite enduring heavy foul trouble.

Meanwhile, Indiana (11-6, 0-5) has reached desperation territory. The Hoosiers have dropped four straight, including two at home, during this extended skid.

Here’s how to watch today’s game.

Watch Iowa vs. Indiana on Fubo (free trial)

What channel is Iowa women’s basketball vs. Indiana on today?

Iowa vs. Indiana time today

Date: Sunday, Jan. 11
Start time: 4 p.m. CT
Location: Assembly Hall in Bloomington, Indiana

Dargan Southard is a sports trending reporter and covers Iowa athletics for the Des Moines Register and HawkCentral.com. Email him at msouthard@gannett.com or follow him on Twitter at @Dargan_Southard.

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