Democrat to Run for 4th District
A Democrat from northwest Iowa has announced she’s running for Iowa’s fourth district congressional seat. Thirty-five-year-old Ashley WolfTornabane (wolf-TORN-uh-bayne) of Storm Lake is a stay-at-home mom of two.
In 2021, WolfTornabane finished third in a race for a seat on the Storm Lake School Board. She’s currently the only Democrat running for congress in the 4th district.
Ryan Melton, a Democrat from Webster City who ran in the fourth congressional district in 2022 and 2024, suspended his 2026 campaign last month for personal reasons. Republican Randy Feenstra, the current representative of the 4th congressional district, has launched an exploratory committee to run for governor and three Republicans have announced they intend to run for the seat. They are House Majority Leader Matt Windschitl of Missouri Valley, Siouxland Chamber of Commerce president Chris McGowan and state Senator Lynn Evans of Aurelia.
Sioux City Republican Consultant to Run in Special Election
Woodbury County republicans have chosen Christopher Prosch as their nominee for Iowa State Senate District 1 for the special election set for August 26th.
Prosch is running to replace the late State Senator Rocky De Witt in Des Moines who recently passed away after battling cancer.
Christopher Prosch is a small business owner that has worked in politics for over a decade, consulting with Republican campaigns and causes across the country.
Prosh owns his own media consulting firm in Sioux city.
Senator Grassley and Clean Energy
Clean energy advocates are applauding Sen. Chuck Grassley’s (R-Iowa) leadership to support the wind and solar energy industries in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
Grassley successfully got the wind energy industry off the ground by instituting America’s first-ever federal wind energy tax credit in 1993, earning him recognition as the “father” of wind energy production.
A MidAmerican Energy spokesman says of the bill that “Improvements made to the final budget reconciliation bill will give MidAmerican a pathway to execute on clean energy projects in our development pipeline for the benefit of our customers.”
Siouxland Leadership Program Opening Up
Applications are now being accepted for Accelerate Siouxland, a regional leadership development program offered by Northwestern College’s Center for Innovation and Leadership.
The program seeks to familiarize participants with Siouxland’s resources to spark new connections and ideas that enhance the well-being of area residents and their communities.
Accelerate Siouxland will meet on the second Thursday of each month from September through April in various locations throughout Siouxland. Topics for discussion will include government, community development, business/industry, health care, education, agriculture, nonprofits, and faith/values.
Registration for the 2025–26 cohort is open until Aug. 10 at nwciowa.edu/accelerate.
No Amnesty for Illegal Farm Workers
US Ag Secretary says there will be no amnesty for farm workers in country illegally
U-S Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins says there will be no amnesty for workers on farms and in food production plants who’re facing deportation because they entered the U-S illegally.
Rollins says it’s up to congress to come up with a permanent fix to the immigration system — and she says now is not the time to compromise on the president’s promise of mass deportations.
The ag secretary’s comments follow President Trump hints during a speech in Iowa last Thursday that his administration was working on legislation so that farmers would be able to vouch for their migrant workers.
Trump suggested farmers would be able to vouch for undocumented employees who’ve worked for them years.
According to the National Center for Farm Worker Health, there are more than three million migrant and seasonal farm workers in the U.S. Seventy-two percent are foreign born, over a million of them are undocumented.
In a report from the National Immigration Forum, and Starting Line 70% of the farming workforce is made up of undocumented immigrants, and their contribution to the fruit and vegetable industry is worth nine billion dollars. Six thousand migrant workers come to Iowa on a yearly basis to support the industry.
