Iowa
Iowa Lottery announces record annual sales in fiscal 2024
The Iowa Lottery says it saw record sales of $489.9 million in the just-completed 2024 fiscal year.
The lottery released its unaudited annual results Tuesday, finding that sales had increased 1.7% from the previous year, beating the previous record. Proceeds from the lottery to the state totaled nearly $107 million, according to a news release.
While the proceeds decreased roughly 1.6% from fiscal; year 2023, the lottery reported they were the second highest after that year’s $108.4 million.
Prizes to players also reached a record level at $312.6 million — a 2.4% increase — according to the news release, and lottery sales commissions to Iowa businesses grew by 2%.
“The Iowa Lottery continues to deliver on its promise to responsibly generate revenue for important state causes,” Iowa Lottery CEO Matt Strawn said in the release. “I’m grateful to lottery players, retail partners, and our amazing team of public-minded professionals who produced these record results.”
What were the top-selling Iowa Lottery products in fiscal 2024?
The top-selling lottery products in Iowa were scratch games, at $302.1 million, followed in a distant second by Powerball at $77.3 million, and in third, Mega Millions at $39.1 million.
Fourteen Iowa Lottery players claimed prizes of at least $500,000 during the fiscal year, with the largest winnings being $2 million in Powerball games — one for a Clinton man in April, and one for a Treynor man in January. A Powerball Double Play prize of $500,000, won in March in Mason City, remains unclaimed.
Proceeds from the lottery go to multiple sources, including the Iowa Veterans Trust Fund and programs supporting Iowa law enforcement, firefighters and corrections employees who die in the line of duty, as well as to projects through the state general fund.
Dana Wingert, Des Moines chief of police and chair of the lottery commission, praised the lottery’s efforts to highlight National Gambling Awareness Month and the services available in the state for people facing gambling addiction disorders.
“As a citizen commission member, it’s gratifying to me to see this ongoing demonstration of lottery integrity,” Wingert said. “And as a public servant myself, I appreciate the lottery team’s focus on responsibly producing results for vital causes.”
Thank you to the readers of High School on SI for helping us determine the Iowa boys high school basketball preseason players of the year in all four classifications.
Over 20,000 votes were tabulated between the four polls on the website.
Taking home top honors in Class 4A was Tevin Schultz from Dubuque Senior, as he received nearly 55 percent of the votes cast in that poll. Will Gerdes of Cedar Falls was a close second with 38 percent of the votes.
Cael LaFrentz, the son of former Kansas star and NBA veteran Raef LaFrentz, claimed the top 3A honor, taking almost 36 percent of the votes. Brady Harr of Hampton-Dumont/CAL was second and James Madison commit AJ Evans of Cedar Rapids Xavier was third. Harr received 26 percent of the votes, Evans had 22 and Jaxon Clark from Keokuk was fourth with over 10 percent.
In 2A, Albia’s Gage Chance pulled away from the field, as he secured over 3,100 votes to finish ahead of Red Oak’s Reese Montgomery, who came in with just under 2,000 total votes cast for him.
GTRA’s Teagan Hanson, a standout quarterback this past fall for the Titans, picked up nearly 61 percent of the 12,000-plus votes cast to claim 1A over Eli Dee of Baxter and Tanner Bergmann from Wapsie Valley.
1. Tevin Schultz, Dubuque Senior
2. Will Gerdes, Cedar Falls
3. Jerimiah Washpun, Iowa City Liberty
Winner: Tevin Schultz, Dubuque Senior
Schultz was the leader for the Rams, posting 18 points, seven rebounds, two assists and over a steal per game.
1. Cael LaFrentz, Decorah
2. Brady Harr, Hampton-Dumont/CAL
3. AJ Evans, Cedar Rapids Xavier
Winner: Cael LaFrentz, Decorah
“Older” followers of basketball will recognize the last name, as LaFrentz averaged 29.2 points per game and 13 rebounds last year for the Vikings.
1. Gage Chance, Albia
2. Reese Montgomery, Red Oak
3. Bryer Putman, Wilton
Winner: Gage Chance, Albia
Chance dominated inside the paint as a sophomore, scoring 19 points with over seven rebounds per game.
1. Teagan Hanson, GTRA
2. Eli Dee, Baxter
3. Tanner Bergman, Wapsie Valley
Winner: Teagan Hanson GTRA
Hanson filled the box score as a junior, scoring 18.5 points a night with nearly six assists, almost six rebounds and four steals.
Republican Wendy Larson has won a special election in northeast Iowa’s House District 7, retaining House Republicans’ supermajority in the state Legislature.
Larson, of Odebolt, will fill the seat of former Rep. Mike Sexton, R-Rockwell City, who resigned Sept. 19 to take a job as Iowa state director of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s rural development office.
Larson won with 70% of the vote, defeating Democrat Rachel Burns, who received 30%, according to unofficial results from the Iowa Secretary of State’s office.
“I’m very blessed to have the opportunity to serve House District 7,” Larson said in a statement. “Throughout this campaign, I vowed to be a common-sense, conservative leader for rural Iowa in the Statehouse. I look forward to delivering on promises that I campaigned on, including protecting landowner rights, providing property tax relief and protecting our children. I’m eager to carry the voices of House District 7 to Des Moines and deliver results for rural Iowa.”
House District 7 includes Sac, Pocahontas and Calhoun counties, as well as portions of western Webster County.
Larson is a deaconess at Kiron Baptist Church and a volunteer at the Mobile Food Pantry. She and her husband, Chad, have three children. Larson holds a bachelor’s degree in marketing from Colorado State University.
Larson campaigned on protecting landowner rights from eminent domain, opposing vaccine mandates, strengthening Second Amendment rights, fighting illegal immigration and “protecting our children from political indoctrination” in school, according to a news release from House Republicans.
With Larson’s win, Republicans retain their 67-seat supermajority in the Iowa House.
House Speaker Pat Grassley, R-New Hartford, praised Larson’s 40-point victory in a statement.
“Unsurprisingly, House District 7 awarded Wendy Larson a resounding victory today,” he said. “Iowans continue to reject out-of-touch liberal agendas and opt instead for more of the common sense, freedom-loving approach you’ve come to know from Iowa House Republicans. We are proud to have a strong leader for House District 7 in Wendy Larson and we look forward to her joining us in the Iowa House.”
Larson previously ran against Sexton in a Republican primary in 2024, losing that race 51% to 49%.
Iowa Democratic Party Chair Rita Hart thanked Bruns for running and praised her campaign.
“Rachel Burns ran a gutsy and inspiring campaign, and the results of her hard work were clear tonight — overperforming by 11 points and forcing Republicans to spend over $35,000 in a district that Donald Trump won by 52,” Hart said in a statement.
Iowa has seen half a dozen special elections for the Legislature in 2025
Larson’s win marks the fifth special election for the Iowa Legislature in 2025.
In January, Democrat Mike Zimmer pulled off a surprise victory over Republican Kate Whittington in an eastern Iowa Senate seat that Chris Cournoyer vacated when she became lieutenant governor.
Republicans narrowly held a House seat that became vacant after former Rep. Martin Graber died unexpectedly of a heart attack. Republican Blaine Watkins defeated Democrat Nannette Griffin in March.
And in April, Democrat Angelina Ramirez won a special election to the Iowa House to replace Sami Scheetz, who resigned after being appointed to fill a vacancy on the Linn County Board of Supervisors. Ramirez defeated Republican Bernie Hayes.
Democrat Catelin Drey in August won a special election for the Iowa Senate seat previously held by Rocky De Witt, who died of pancreatic cancer. She defeated Republican Christopher Prosch, breaking Senate Republicans’ supermajority in the 50-member chamber.
Polk County residents will head to the polls for one final election on Dec. 30 to fill the Senate District 16 seat left vacant by the death of Sen. Claire Celsi in October.
Stephen Gruber-Miller covers the Iowa Statehouse and politics for the Register. He can be reached by email at sgrubermil@registermedia.com or by phone at 515-284-8169. Follow him on X at @sgrubermiller.
Hear from Taylor Stremlow, Addie Deal before Iowa faces Iowa State
Hear from Taylor Stremlow, Addie Deal before Iowa faces Iowa State
After thumping Rutgers in its Big Ten opener, Iowa women’s basketball remained at No. 12 in the latest USA TODAY Coaches poll released Dec. 9.
The Hawkeyes (9-0, 1-0 Big Ten Conference) picked up a 79-36 win over the Scarlet Knights on Dec. 6 to remain unbeaten. Iowa has held opponents under 60 points six times already this season.
This week brings Iowa’s toughest challenge yet. The Hawkeyes head to No. 10 Iowa State (10-0) for their Dec. 10 challenge at Hilton Coliseum. Iowa then returns home to face Lindenwood on Dec. 13.
Dec. 9 women’s basketball Coaches poll
- UConn
- Texas
- South Carolina
- UCLA
- LSU
- Maryland
- TCU
- Michigan
- Oklahoma
- Iowa State
- North Carolina
- Iowa
- Vanderbilt
- Baylor
- Kentucky
- OIe Miss
- USC
- Tennessee
- Notre Dame
- Louisville
- Ohio State
- Oklahoma State
- Washington
- Michigan State
- Alabama
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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