(AP) — It could take several weeks to complete a recount — if one is sought — of the razor-thin margin in the Republican primary race between state Sen. Spencer Deery and his President Donald Trump-endorsed challenger.

The Indiana Recount Commission on Friday approved procedures for checking ballots in a possible recount just hours before the Tippecanoe County Election Board completed the final preliminary tallies in the Senate District 23 race.

As Tippecanoe County counted no additional ballots in the race, the totals from all six counties in the district showed Deery with a three-vote margin — 6,337 to 6,334 — over Fountain County Republican Chair Paula Copenhaver.

Recount filing period opened

Friday was the first day recount petitions could be filed with the state. A candidate has until noon Tuesday to do so, while any Republican county chair in the district faces a noon May 22 deadline to ask for a recount.

Copenhaver did not immediately seek a recount Friday, and neither she nor a campaign spokesman responded to messages from the Indiana Capital Chronicle seeking comment.

Deery, a first-term senator from West Lafayette, was among the Republican legislators targeted by Trump after voting against the congressional redistricting plan pushed last year by the president.

When asked about the prospect of a recount, Deery replied, “I don’t have anything to say about a request that hasn’t happened yet.”

Final tallies were also posted Friday in the Senate District 15 primary between Republican Sen. Liz Brown of Fort Wayne and challenger Darren Vogt.

Those results for the district, which is entirely in Allen County, showed Vogt picking up one vote from the preliminary figures. But Vogt still trailed Brown by 14 votes — 5,241 to 5,227.

Vogt did not respond to messages seeking comment about whether he would seek a recount.

Recount work could last into July

The state Recount Commission, meanwhile, approved Friday the selection of a recount director and guidelines for State Board of Accounts auditors in conducting any election reviews.

Recounts conducted in 2024 of two contested Indiana House primary races confirmed the initial results, finding only two miscounted ballots out of thousands.

But those reviews were not finalized until August — three months after the primary was held.

State Examiner Paul Joyce, who heads up the Board of Accounts, said after Friday’s commission meeting that the logistics are complicated for a recount spread over multiple counties.

The tight Deery-Copenhaver race involves all or parts of six counties spanning much of the area between Lafayette and Terre Haute.

Joyce said field auditors could need two days in each county to complete their work.

“If it’s in the six-county area, you’re talking a minimum of 12 on-site days,” Joyce told the Capital Chronicle. “It’s not going to surprise me if it’s into July. I would hope it’s done before the end of July and we don’t get into August.”

Morales responds to criticism

Republican Secretary of State Diego Morales is chair of the Recount Commission, along with Republican member Paul Mullin and Democratic member Michael Claytor.

Morales, who also chaired the commission during the 2024 recount, said “we are ready” to take up any requests.

“We’ve been preparing for this, just in case,” Morales told the Capital Chronicle. “If they will file a recount between today until noon next Friday, then we will be ready.”

Claytor asked at the end of the commission’s 15-minute meeting for Morales to respond to criticism of his role as the board’s chair because of his involvement with Turning Point USA, which endorsed Copenhaver, and public support of congressional redistricting.

“This is my duties, my responsibilities, and I will be chairing the Recount Commission,” Morales said. “If should there be any recount filed, we will be holding those meetings transparently for the public to see.”

The commission approved the appointment of attorney Jessica Dickinson as the recount director. Dickinson has been Indiana House parliamentarian, making her a key aide to Republican Speaker Todd Huston during legislative sessions. She has also worked for a Fishers law firm founded by Hamilton County Republican Chair Mario Massillamany and GOP state Rep. Chris Jeter.

Expectant parents, if you’re struggling to come up with names for your child, here is some inspiration courtesy of the Social Security Administration.

The Social Security Administration tracks the most popular names given to babies in each state using data from Social Security card applications. People can search back as far as 1960 to see the 100 most frequently given names for both male and female babies on the administration’s website.

The Social Security Administration’s 100 most popular baby names in Iowa overlap with what maternity departments across the Des Moines metro found earlier this year for popular baby names.

So what were the most popular names in Iowa for 2025? Here’s what to know.

What are the most popular baby boy names in Iowa?

Here are the top 10 baby names for males born in Iowa in 2025. Following each name is the number of times a child was given the name, according to the Social Security Administration’s data.

1. Oliver: 198
2. Liam: 185
3. Henry: 176
4. Theodore: 176
5. Cooper: 133
6. Hudson: 124
7. James: 118
8. Noah: 118
9. Bennett: 113
10. Owen: 106

Oliver is the undisputed champion when it comes to baby boy names in Iowa. The name has been the No. 1 choice for newborns in the state since 2016. On the other end of the spectrum, Milo, Luka, Tucker, Beckham and Caleb were the least common names in the top 100.

What are the most popular baby girl names in Iowa?

Here are the top 10 baby names for females born in Iowa in 2025.

1. Charlotte:158
2. Evelyn: 117
3. Emma: 116
4. Amelia: 112
5. Eleanor: 109
6. Olivia: 107
7. Sophia: 104
8. Lainey: 101
9. Harper: 98
10. Violet: 97

As for the top girls’ names, the race has been more competitive in recent years. Charlotte has held the No. 1 spot from 2023 through 2025 and also topped the list in 2021, while Olivia claimed the top position in 2020 and 2022. The five least common names in the top 100 for 2025 were Brooklyn, Emily, Kennedy, Lennon and Mabel.

More: What were 2025’s most popular baby names in the Des Moines metro?

The top 10 most popular girl names for 2025 in the U.S.

1. Olivia
2. Charlotte
3. Emma
4. Amelia
5. Sophia
6. Mia
7. Isabella
8. Evelyn
9. Sofia
10. Eliana

The top 10 most popular boy names for 2025 in the U.S.

1. Liam
2. Noah
3. Oliver
4. Theodore
5. Henry
6. James
7. Elijah
8. Mateo
9. William
10. Lucas

Cooper Worth is a service/trending reporter for the Des Moines Register. Reach him at cworth@gannett.com or follow him on X @CooperAWorth

Topeka, Salina, Lawrence and small communities in north-central and northwest Kansas are home to the five most beautiful Gothic cathedrals in the state, the World Atlas website says.

Gothic cathedrals have historically been built to be monumental and impressive, drawing eyes toward the heavens while creating an atmosphere that feels sacred.

Pointed arches, flying buttresses, soaring ribbed vaults and intricate stained-glass windows are among architectural characteristics from the Gothic art period, which flourished between the 12th and 16th centuries in Europe.

A Gothic architecture revival then emerged in the 19th century in the U.S.

Gothic churches here show faith, talent, architectural ambition

An article published in December by World Atlas identifies what it characterized as being the five most beautiful Gothic churches in Kansas.

“The state of Kansas’s variety of Gothic churches, built around the late 19th and early 20th centuries, serves as an important reminder of the creative and cultural aspirations of the state’s founders, regardless of whether they were made with local limestone, imported stone, or red brick,” the site said.

Those churches serve as significant representations of faith, talent and architectural ambition, it said.

World Atlas identified the Sunflower State’s five most beautiful Gothic churches as being the following.

Grace Episcopal Cathedral, Topeka

Topeka’s Grace Episcopal Cathedral “offers one of the most compelling combinations of Gothic Revival style and regional limestone craftsmanship in Kansas,” creating a balance “between Gothic drama and Midwestern simplicity,” World Atlas said.

“The current stone cathedral was constructed primarily between 1910 and 1917, although its twin western towers were completed later,” the site said.

The majestic cathedral at SW 8th and Polk was ravaged in 1975 by a devastating arson fire.

But the church was subsequently rebuilt in “one of the most significant late-20th-century preservation achievements in Kansas,” World Atlas said.

The former English Lutheran Church, Lawrence

The rusticated limestone English Lutheran Church in Lawrence is “a great example of Late Gothic Revival architecture on the Kansas frontier,” World Atlas said.

The church was built around 1870, and additions were made around 1900, it said.

“After falling into disrepair in the mid-20th century, preservation efforts by the Lawrence Historic Preservation Alliance and the Kansas State Historical Society saved the building,” World Atlas said. “It was reopened in 1993 as office space, and the adaptive reuse preserved its major architectural features.”

Christ Episcopal Cathedral, Salina

Salina’s Christ Episcopal Cathedral is “perhaps the most academically faithful example of Gothic Revival architecture in Kansas,” World Atlas said.