Feenstra Wins 4th District
(Hull) — Iowa’s 4th Congressional District will remain red and will be represented by a Republican, as Randy Feenstra of Hull was able to defeat Democratic contender J.D. Scholten of Sioux City by a 62 to 38 percent margin. Surrounded by his family and close friends, Feenstra addressed the media, and declared victory from inside the Hull Public Library. Feenstra started by saying, “What a great day…what a great day.” Feenstra says he
was able to deliver a victory for Iowa in the 4th District.
Feenstra says the campaign was hard-fought and he thanked J.D. Scholten for the energy he brought to the race. He thanked his family for their constant support. Feenstra says he ran for Congress in part to insure a bright future for his children’s generation.
Feenstra reflected upon his accomplishments in the Iowa Senate, of cutting taxes and balancing the budget, and says he will be just as driven when he is in Washington D.C. representing Iowa’s 4th District.
The newly elected incoming Congressman concluded his victory address by showing his pro-life stance by talking about protecting the unborn.
Following his comments to the media, Feenstra called J.D. Scholten and thanked Scholten for putting up a good race. Scholten was able to only capture Story county with the other 37 counties all voting for Feenstra.
Hardin County has yet to report their election results.
Trump And Ernst Take Plymouth County And Iowa
(Le Mars) — In Plymouth County, 78 percent, or 14,226 of the eligible registered 18,236 voters marked their ballots for this year’s election.
Nearly 42 percent of those votes were absentee, or had voted early. Both President Donald Trump and Senator Joni Ernst won Plymouth County, and both narrowly won the state of Iowa. Ernst dominated Plymouth County with more than a three to one margin over Democratic challenger, Theresa Greenfield.
Ernst earned 10,128 votes in Plymouth County to Greenfield’s 3,572.
Libertarian candidate Rick Stewart received 219 votes in Plymouth County.
Across the state of Iowa, Ernst squeaked out a victory with more than 858,000 votes to Greenfield’s 750,400 votes. Greenfield won many of the urban counties including: Polk, Story, Blackhawk, Linn, Johnson, Cero Gordo, Scott, and Jefferson County. Ernst was able to capture the remaining 90 counties with Hardin County not yet reporting.
In the president race, Donald Trump was able to win Plymouth County by nearly the same numbers of Ernst win over Greenfield. President Trump acquired 10,472 votes in Plymouth County and former Vice President and Democratic challenger Joe Biden earned 3,483 votes. The breakdown of counties with the president race was similar to the U-S Senate race. Former Vice President Joe Biden was able to capture many of the urban counties including: Polk, Story, Blackhawk, Linn, Johnson and Scott counties. Meanwhile, President Trump won the other 92 counties with Hardin County yet to report. As of 2:00 a.m. the president’s race across the nation was still too close to call.
Plymouth County Election Results
(Le Mars) — The only contested political race for most of Plymouth County voters involved choosing four people of a list of five for the Extension Council. The top four candidates include: Ed Vondrak, Blaine Reuter, Ann Crosgrove, and Rebecca Easton. Otherwise, each race for office had only one name listed, with the exception of the County Soil and Water Conservation
Board that featured three names, but voters were asked to vote for three.
With that in mind, we can share that Sheriff Mike Van Otterloo, who will retire his position as sheriff, was the chosen candidate seeking District 2 County Supervisor. The other county supervisor position involved Gary Horton of Akron. Jeff TeBrink will become the new Plymouth County Sheriff on January 1st. Stacey Feldman will retain her position as the County Auditor.
Dr. Tom Jeneary will be representing most of Plymouth County and the northern tier of Woodbury County as State House Representative for District 5.
Reviewing Sioux County results. There were two races that were contested. Sheriff Dan Altena was able to fend off the challenge and retain his position as Sioux County Sheriff, and State Representative Skyler Wheeler will return to Des Moines to represent the people of the State House District 4 as he
defeated Democrat challenger Bjorn Johnson.
Iowa DNR Investigates Fish Kill After Fertilizer Truck Crash in Fayette County
(Wadena, IA) — The Iowa Department of Natural Resources is investigating a fertilizer truck rollover that caused a fish kill in Fayette County. The D-N-R says a truck from Nutrien Ag Solutions of West Union was carrying around 40-thousand pounds of fertilizer when it crashed near Wadena late Monday
afternoon. An unknown amount entered a tributary of Brush Creek and investigators found dead fish and high ammonia levels in the stream. D-N-R officers are monitoring the cleanup today (Tuesday) and fisheries staff are checking downstream.
Iowa’s Congressional Delegation Will Consist Of Three Republicans And One Democrat
(Des Moines) — Iowa’s Congressional Delegation will have three Republicans in the House of Representatives, and one Democrat. Only about 300 votes separated Republican
Mariannette Miller-Meeks over Democrat Rita Hart in Iowa’s 2nd District.
Democratic Congressman Dave Loesback retired leaving the district wide open.
Republican Ashley Hinson was able to defeat incumbent Democratic Congresswoman Abby Finkenauer in Iowa’s First Congressional District, and Democrat Cindy Axne was able to hold her seat with a narrow victory over Republican David Young in Iowa’s 3rd District which includes central and southwestern Iowa. It was Axne who was able to defeat Young two years ago,
thus taking the Congressional seat away from Young. Young tried to gain back his former position. Axne won only Polk County, but gained enough votes to over-ride Young’s ten county victories. In the 4th District serving northwest Iowa, Republican Randy Feenstra was easily able to defeat Democrat
J.D. Scholten with nearly a two to one margin.
Reynolds Sending $28 Million in CARES Act Funds to Hospitals, County Health Departments
(Des Moines, IA) — Governor Kim Reynolds says she’s sending 28-million dollars in federal CARES Act funding to Iowa hospitals and county health departments. Reynolds said, “as COVID-19 continues to impact Iowans, it is putting strain on both staffing at our hospitals as well as local public health departments.” The governor says county health departments are also facing continued and ongoing increases in workload. Twenty-five-million
dollars will go to hospitals and three million will be awarded to counties based a on per capita basis. Reynolds said, “it’s especially important that Iowans take every precaution possible to slow the community spread of COVID-19.”
Another Day Of Record Number COVID-19 Patients In Iowa Hospitals
(Des Moines, IA) — The 730 patients currently hospitalized with COVID-19 in Iowa sets another daily record. The state also set a new record with 170 patients in intensive care units. The Iowa Department of Public Health reports more than 15-hundred new positive coronavirus tests, increasing the state’s total to 133-thousand-229 cases. Twenty more Iowans have died of
COVID complications which brings the death toll to one-thousand-733. Fifty-five Iowa counties have now a 14-day average positivity rate of 15 percent or more. There are COVID-19 outbreaks in 84 long-term care facilities in the state.
