Iowa
National Democratic group boosts 7 ‘spotlight’ candidates in Iowa House and Senate races
A national Democratic group is boosting seven candidates for the Iowa House and Senate as the party aims to flip Republican-held seats this November and begin to climb out of the minority.
The Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee, an arm of the national Democratic Party dedicated to electing Democrats to statehouses around the country, named the seven Iowa “spotlight” candidates Tuesday. They are:
- Rep. Josh Turek, D-Council Bluffs, who is running for a second term in House District 20.
- Heather Sievers, who is challenging Rep. Bill Gustoff, R-Des Moines, in House District 40.
- Tiara Mays-Sims, who is challenging Rep. Eddie Andrews, R-Johnston, in House District 43.
- Aime Wichtendahl, who is running for House District 80, an open seat in Cedar Rapids, Hiawatha and Robins.
- Matt Blake, who is challenging Sen. Brad Zaun, R-Urbandale, in Senate District 22.
- Sen. Eric Giddens, D-Cedar Falls, who is running for reelection in Senate District 38.
- Nannette Griffin, who is challenging Sen. Jeff Reichman, R-Montrose, in Senate District 50.
The news comes one day after the DLCC announced a plan to spend $10 million nationwide as part of its “Summer of the States” campaign. It’s not clear how much money the group could spend in Iowa.
Democrats are in the minority in the Iowa House, holding 36 seats to Republicans’ 64. And Republicans enjoy a supermajority in the Iowa Senate, with 34 seats to Democrats’ 16.
More: Iowa Democrats urge focus on education, abortion as they seek wins in November elections
House Minority Leader Jennifer Konfrst, D-Windsor Heights, is the top Democrat in the Iowa House and a member of the DLCC board.
She said the national party’s decision to highlight candidates in Iowa “shows that what we’ve been saying for a while is true, which is that Iowa is a purple state.”
She pointed to the fact that Iowa’s 1st and 3rd congressional districts, which are held by Republican U.S. Reps. Mariannette Miller-Meeks and Zach Nunn, are on national Democrats’ list of top congressional seats to flip this year.
“It just goes to show you that the message that we’ve been giving for a long time, which is don’t give up on Iowa, has broken through,” she said. “And that some national folks are looking at Iowa and saying, ‘OK, this place can come back to purple. This place can come back into balance. Let’s get engaged and see what we can do.’”
Konfrst said it will take time for Democrats to win back majorities in the Iowa House and Senate, but argued the national party can see “we’re doing really good work to rebuild.”
“The DLCC knows that we’re not going to flip the Iowa House this year or the Senate,” she said. “But they also know that you don’t get there unless you start investing now. And so that’s why it really means a lot that they’re here and they’ve picked some great candidates.”
In a news release the DLCC said Republican majorities in the Iowa House and Senate “has posed grave threats to Iowans’ fundamental freedoms.”
The group highlighted Iowa Republican policies to restrict abortion, including a bill that passed the Iowa House to raise penalties for ending someone’s pregnancy without their consent.
Democrats and Senate Republicans said the legislation could endanger access to in vitro fertilization because it would have defined an “unborn person” as beginning at fertilization. The bill did not become law.
More: IVF fears scuttle Iowa bill raising penalty for ending pregnancy without consent
“Iowa Republicans made national headlines this year for their egregious threats to reproductive rights, and Democrats have the candidates this year to fight back and win targeted races,” DLCC President Heather Williams said in a statement. “The Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee is proud to announce our Spotlight candidates in Iowa, whose fierce support of fundamental freedoms and democracy will be instrumental for combatting the GOP agenda.”
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 Twitter at @sgrubermiller.
IOWA CITY, Iowa — — Owen Freeman matched his career-best with 22 points and Iowa cruised to a 104-57 win over New Orleans on Sunday.
The Hawkeyes rebounded from their first home-court loss, falling 89-80 to No. 3 Iowa State on Thursday in the annual Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk Series.
Brock Harding opened the game with a 3-pointer, but the Privateers answered with back-to-back layups from MJ Thomas and James White to take their only lead of the game, 4-3. Freeman answered with a layup and Payton Sandfort and Drew Thelwell each hit from deep to put Iowa in front for good and a 10-0 run made it 29-11 midway through the half.
Iowa (8-3) shot 62.7% from the field for the game (42 of 67), including 14 of 29 from beyond the arc. The Hawkeyes amassed 28 assists on 42 made baskets. Sandfort hit 3 of 4 from beyond the arc and finished with 15 points, five rebounds, four assists and a steal. Josh Dix and Brock Harding each added 13 points, with Harding collecting six assists, two steals and a blocked shot. Pryce Sandfort added 10 points off the bench.
New Orleans, playing its first game in more than a week, was 25 of 67 from the field (37.3%) and was just 4 of 24 from long range. White paced the Privateers (2-7) with 24 points, six rebounds and two assists. Thomas added 14 points.
——
Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here. AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball
Iowa wrestling coach Clarissa Chun breaks down pair of dual wins
Iowa wrestling’s Clarissa Chun holds press conference after pair of dual wins over William Jewell and Cornell College
Iowa women’s wrestling took a good portion of its squad to the North Central Open on Sunday, securing three individual titles from Nanea Estrella, Macey Kilty and Kylie Welker.
Bringing 13 wrestlers to the top division of the tournament, with Danni Swihart competing in the B-Division, 11 Hawkeyes finished on the podium in the top division. Even without several starters, the Hawkeyes took second behind only North Central’s mostly full squad.
Iowa’s stars who made the trip to Naperville, Illinois shined, as Estrella, Kilty and Welker combined to go 14-0. They outscored their opponents 131-1 combined.
Alivia White was a surprise, racing to take second at 203 pounds. She defeated teammate Katja Osteen by fall on her way to the finals. Even without Jaycee Foeller, the Hawkeyes had White, Osteen and Samantha Calkins all place at the tournament at 203 pounds.
Accounting for only the results from the A-Division, which housed top wrestlers from each team, North Central had 166.5 team points to Iowa’s 136.5.
It’s hard to compare Iowa and North Central, given the Hawkeyes and CArdinals had limited lineups. The Hawkeyes were without Sterling Dias, Brianna and Emilie Gonzalez, Skye Realin, Reese Larramendy, Kennedy Blades and Foeller to name a few. North Central did not have former Hawkeye Bella Mir or 203-pound No. 2 Traeh Haynes for example as well.
Regardless, having two champions and five finalists suggests the Cardinals will be a challenger once again come the postseason to the Hawkeyes.
Here are the individual results for each wrestler for the Hawkeyes.
Iowa women’s wrestling results from North Central Open
- Rianne Murphy – 2nd at 103 pounds (3-1)
- Val Solorio – 3rd at 110 pounds (5-1)
- Cali Leng – 6th at 124 pounds (3-3)
- Ava Rose – DNP at 124 pounds (1-2)
- Allie Baudhuin – DNP at 131 pounds (1-2)
- Emmily Patneaud – 6th at 131 pounds (2-3)
- Nanea Estrella – 1st at 138 pounds (4-0)
- Cadence Diduch – 3rd at 138 pounds (5-1)
- Danni Swihart (B-Division) – 5th at 138 pounds (3-2)
- Macey Kilty – 1st at 145 pounds (4-0)
- Kylie Welker – 1st at 180 pounds (6-0)
- Samantha Calkins – 4th at 207 pounds (4-2)
- Alivia White – 2nd at 207 pounds (3-1)
- Katja Osteen – 5th at 207 pounds (3-2, 3-1 vs. non-Hawkeyes)
Match-by-match results can be found on trackwrestling.com
This story was updated to add new information.
Eli McKown covers high school sports and wrestling for the Des Moines Register. Contact him at Emckown@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @EMcKown23.
Iowa State football: Cyclones seniors on turning focus to bowl season
Iowa State football seniors Myles Purchase, JR Singleton and Jaylin Noel are looking forward to trying to end things on a good note in bowl season.
Iowa State football brought in some talent on Saturday.
The Cyclones landed two wide receivers from the NCAA transfer portal in Chase Sowell (East Carolina) and Xavier Townsend (UCF).
They both have two years of eligibility remaining.
Here’s some information on the two newcomers:
Chase Sowell stats
- 2024 (9 games): 34 catches, 678 yards, 3 TDs
- 2023 (11 games): 47 catches, 622 yards, 1 TD
- 2022 (1 game): 2 catches, 23 yards
The 6-4, 195-pound wideout enjoyed his best career season in 2024 despite missing three games due to injury, according to 247Sports.
Most impressively, he increased his average yards per reception by 6.7 to 19.9, indicating he can be a big-play threat for the Cyclones.
His best stretch in 2024 came in the middle of the season in back-to-back games against Temple and Army, in which Sowell combined for 11 catches and 255 yards with two scores.
Xavier Townsend stats
- 2024 (4 games): 10 catches, 69 yards, 1 TD
- 2023 (10 games): 31 catches, 316 yards, 3 TDs
- 2022 (8 games): 16 catches, 102 yards
The 5-11, 185-pound wideout sat out the final eight games of 2024 in order to retain his eligibility, according to ESPN.
Across the first four games, Townsend’s best performance was the season opener with four catches for 50 yards against Colorado.
Biden administration officials downplay concerns about drone sightings: 'Slight overreaction'
Amber Alert issued for boy and girl abducted in California
Lions’ winning ways – and Super Bowl hopes – might be undone by defensive injuries
How meteorologists tracked the tornado risk in Scotts Valley, San Francisco
10 Dallas-area players to watch in the College Football Playoff: Ashton Jeanty and more
Colorado Rockies game no. 116 thread: Zac Gallen vs José Ureña
Why Marjorie Taylor Greene was ‘kicked out’ of the Freedom Caucus according to Rep. Buck
See it: Tesla crashes into Columbus convention center at 70 mph
Fox News Politics: Georgia the whole day through
Death of missing Oregon girl found in stream ruled homicide
Who is Alina Habba? Trump's fierce legal defender picked to serve as counselor to the president
Clean-up ongoing in Mayotte after Cyclone Chido devastates island
What’s next for the suspect in the killing of UnitedHealthcare’s CEO | CNN
Read the email from Revere’s principal
Lawmakers 'may slip by a day' in releasing text on emergency spending bill days before deadline
-
Technology1 week agoStruggling to hear TV dialogue? Try these simple fixes
-
Business7 days agoOpenAI's controversial Sora is finally launching today. Will it truly disrupt Hollywood?
-
Politics3 days agoCanadian premier threatens to cut off energy imports to US if Trump imposes tariff on country
-
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25782636/247422_ChatGPT_anniversary_CVirginia.jpg "Inside the launch — and future — of ChatGPT")
Technology4 days agoInside the launch — and future — of ChatGPT
-
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25789444/1258459915.jpg "OpenAI cofounder Ilya Sutskever says the way AI is built is about to change")
Technology2 days agoOpenAI cofounder Ilya Sutskever says the way AI is built is about to change
-
Politics2 days agoU.S. Supreme Court will decide if oil industry may sue to block California's zero-emissions goal
-
Politics4 days agoConservative group debuts major ad buy in key senators' states as 'soft appeal' for Hegseth, Gabbard, Patel
-
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25546252/STK169_Mark_Zuckerburg_CVIRGINIA_D.jpg "Meta asks the US government to block OpenAI’s switch to a for-profit")
Technology2 days agoMeta asks the US government to block OpenAI’s switch to a for-profit