Iowa
Republicans running for governor lay out conservative credentials
The five candidates vying for the Republican Party nomination for governor each went before conservative activists in the Des Moines area Friday night to ask for their support in the upcoming primary election.
The fundraiser for the Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition, an influential evangelical political group, was the first event of the campaign season where all five candidates were present in person.
More than 1,000 people attended the fundraiser at an event center in Clive where Gov. Kim Reynolds and Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, also looked to unify support for Republicans in the upcoming midterms.
Lucius Pham/Iowa Public Radio
Feenstra and rivals appeal to conservative activists
The candidates took turns answering questions from Republican Party of Iowa Chair Jeff Kaufmann, who prompted them to share their views on key conservative issues: abortion, eminent domain, school choice and religious freedom.
All five candidates oppose abortion rights. Adam Steen, former director of the Iowa Department of Administrative Services, said as governor he would push for restrictions beyond the state’s current law — which bans most abortions at about six weeks of pregnancy.
“We have to be pro-life. We have to be life at conception. It’s fundamental,” Steen said. “And I’ll say this right now — with those abortion pills that are being sent into the state of Iowa right now, we have to stop those first and foremost. Get those out of there and ensure that life is protected at conception.”
The Iowa House passed a bill Friday that includes a measure requiring medial providers to only dispense abortion-inducing drugs directly to the patient in a health care setting. It is not clear whether the bill has enough support to pass in the state Senate.
Also on Friday, a panel of the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued a ruling temporarily blocking the mailing of the abortion pill mifepristone, requiring that it be distributed only in person in medical settings. The ruling is expected to be appealed to the Supreme Court.
Lucius Pham/Iowa Public Radio
Businessman Zach Lahn of Belle Plaine said the conservative movement should look beyond abortion. For instance, Lahn said, conservatives should advocate to reverse declines in life expectancy.
“We have to make sure that we are fighting for healthy food, for less medication, for our children, for clean water, for cancer,” said Lahn, who was endorsed by MAHA Action, an advocacy group related to the Make America Healthy Again movement.
Reynolds vetoed a measure that would have put some limits on eminent domain, but the candidates all said they oppose the use of eminent domain for private-sector projects.
Fourth District Rep. Randy Feenstra said he would protect landowners’ property rights.
“The property belongs to the American farmer, the Iowa farmer, belongs to each of us and not anything else,” Feenstra said. “And if somebody wants to run a pipeline, or whatever it might be, then it’s negotiated between the private property owner and the business. And if the private property owner says, ‘no,’ that’s it.”
Former state Rep. Brad Sherman agreed.
“A private company who’s not a common carrier for a product that’s not a public utility should never, ever get to use eminent domain,” Sherman said. “It’s just that simple.”
The GOP candidates for governor are supporters of school choice measures passed in recent years. That includes Iowa’s education savings accounts (ESAs) program, which this year gave around $8,000 in public funding per student to help families pay for tuition at private schools.
Steen called the ESA law “one of the greatest pieces of legislation” passed under Republican control in the Legislature. Current state Rep. Eddie Andrews, R-Johnston, said he would like to see the state expand school choice.
“It didn’t just start with ESAs. I led the push for just regular district-to-district school choice. Then we added public charter school choice,” Andrews said. “I understood that parents need to be in charge of their kids’ education.”
If no candidate wins at least 35% of the primary vote on June 2, the nomination will be decided at a party convention.
Lucius Pham
/
Iowa Public Radio
Reynolds says election will affect GOP achievements
Reynolds told activists at the fundraiser she plans to be on the campaign trail supporting the person chosen as the GOP nominee for governor. She said the results of the election in November will have implications for landmark conservative policies put in place under her leadership.
Reynolds listed what she considers some of Republicans’ greatest accomplishments in the Statehouse in her time as governor, including cuts to income tax rates, a broad state government reorganization and one of the most restrictive abortion laws in the United States.
“I would put our record up against anyone,” Reynolds said. “It’s what’s driven more Iowa voters to register as Republicans. In 2018, Republicans held just a 10,800 voter registration advantage. Today, we have an advantage of over 198,000.”
But Republicans should not take their advantage among active registered voters for granted, Reynolds said. Democrats, she said, are united, well-funded and motivated to win back the governor’s office.
“We have the record. We have the numbers,” Reynolds said. “So the only way that we see a Rob Sand win is if we don’t show up. If we show up, we win.”
POLK CITY, Iowa (KCCI) – The summer swimming season may just be getting underway, but the Iowa DNR says there are already some beaches people should not swim at.
As KCCI reports, four Iowa beaches have high levels of E. coli in the first tests of the year: Backbone Beach, Beeds Lake Beach, Pine Lake South Beach, and Bobwhite State Park all had high levels of the bacterial colony.
The DNR tests state beaches every year from Memorial Day to Labor Day for various bacteria.
Big Creek Beach passed its first test of the season. With the beach testing high for bacteria in previous years, families said they were glad the beach tested all clear so far.
“The kids are happy to be playing in the water this year, so I’m glad that they’re able to swim and we’re not as worried,” said Sarah Sarton of West Des Moines.
Health officials urge caution even when water looks clean. Polk County Public Health director Juliann Van Liew said people should avoid consuming the water and use swim goggles when going underwater.
You can look up the water quality monitoring map on the DNR’s website.
Copyright 2026 KCRG. All rights reserved.
We at High School On SI previously offered up a list of candidates for the Iowa high school boys soccer player of the year award.
Now, we take a look at some of the best girls high school soccer players in the state of Iowa.
Like with with the High School On SI Iowa High School Boys Soccer Player of the Year Award, the High School On SI Iowa High School Girls Soccer Player of the Year Award will be named in each class following the conclusion of the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union State Soccer Tournament in June.
Here are the nominees for the High School On SI Iowa High School Girls Soccer Player of The Year Award. Stats are official as of Sunday, May 24, 2026 from the Bound website.
High School On SI Iowa High School Girls Soccer Player Of The Year Candidates
Class 3A
- Ilana Vasconez, Ottumwa: The senior leads all players with 48 goals, averaging almost three per match.
- Sloane Moeller, Davenport Central: Moeller is just one goal behind the class lead, as the junior has tallied 47 with 10 assists.
- Callie Stanley, Iowa City Liberty: Both a scorer and distributor, Stanley has 24 goals and 13 assists in 16 matches.
- Izzy Simonini, Waukee Northwest: The top goalscorer on the No. 1 team is Simonini, as the senior has tallie dnine on the year.
- Andie Vanderschaaf, Pleasant Valley: A brick in net, the senior has allowed just five goals in 1,200 minutes, recording 94 saves.
Class 2A
- Nora Barnett, North Scott: Opponents have found it nearly impossible to score on Barnett, as she has allowed just nine goals in 1,145 minutes with 100 saves.
- Hadley Wolfe, Fort Madison: The senior has 38 goals and 13 assists in 15 matches played, as she is the leading goalscorer in the class.
- Addy Wood, Norwalk: Wood leads the No. 1 ranked team in Class 2A with 11 goals, adding six assists.
- Anaka Ott, Waverly-Shell Rock: The senior has registered 22 goals with eight assists this season for the Go-Hawks.
- Irelynn White, Lewis Central: White has put 28 shots into the net and assisted on 11 more for the Titans.
Class 1A
- Maelyn Kluever, Maquoketa: Among the leading players in goals scored this year is Kluever, as the senior has 47 and another 24 assists – which leads Class 1A.
- Morgan Crees, Panorama: Crees has been among the top scorers over the past few seasons, recording 46 this year with 14 assists.
- Meadow Lane, Colfax-Mingo: Just a sophomore, Lane has another 45 goals added to her resume.
- Addyson Shepard, Denver: The sophomore sits atop the Cyclones list with 26 goals in addition to her 17 assists.
- Addy Oetker, Des Moines Christian: One of the top athletes in the state, Oetker has 24 goals and 21 assists on the season.
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The Iowa State Cyclones had to undergo some major changes with their men’s basketball roster this offseason.
Four key rotation players from their incredible 2025-26 team, Tamin Lipsey, Joshua Jefferson, Milan Momcilovic and Nate Heise, won’t be back with the team. However, the Cyclones were able to successfully fill those voids on the roster with five players in the transfer portal and three players in their Class of 2026.
Other programs that have spent the offseason upgrading their rosters may not be as fortunate. The new NCAA eligibility requirements could significantly alter the outlook of many teams across the country, with a particular focus on international players.
After virtually everyone was granted eligibility to play in the 2025-26 season, rule changes came down in May that will impact several programs. Kevin Sweeney of Sports Illustrated named a few players who may no longer be eligible to participate in the 2026-27 season: Quinn Ellis (St. John’s Red Storm), Saliou Niang (LSU Tigers), Márcio Santos (LSU Tigers) and Mantas Rubštavičius (Auburn Tigers).
NCAA eligiblity rules will have major impact on men’s college basketball
Some Iowa State fans will see that and wonder how this could impact players on their team. Head coach T.J. Otzelberger has done a great job with international recruiting in recent years, unearthing gems such as Killyan Toure and Dominykas Pleta in the Class of 2026.
In the Class of 2026, one of Toure’s former teammates, big man Dorian Rinaldo-Komlan, committed to the Cyclones.
Luckily for Iowa State, none of those players are going to be impacted by the new eligibility rules and should maintain their ability to suit up for the Cyclones during the 2026-27 campaign.
Toure played high school basketball at Brewster Academy before coming to Ames. Rinaldo-Komlan is currently with SPIRE Academy. Pleta played in the Porsche Ludwigsburg, which has a professional-level team, but he was with the academy team, which is the equivalent of high school basketball.
Cyclones won’t be impacted by eligibility rule changes
While the rules about international players are constantly changing, all of the players who have come from overseas who are with Iowa State should remain eligible. The focus of the new rules is on players who have professional experience internationally and are older prospects.
That isn’t an area of recruiting that Otzelberger has had to turn to during his tenure with the Cyclones, and thankfully so. He has excelled in finding high school players and anyone in the transfer portal who fit into the game plan they are looking to execute with a focus on defensive intensity.
Iowa State can proceed as they have been, knowing they won’t be losing any players to eligibility concerns because of international professional experience.
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