9-term incumbent Congressman Steve King was defeated in a five-person race for the Republican nomination for House District 4…State Sen. Randy Feenstra defeated King in a race that went back and forth all night. Ultimately, Feenstra defeated King 46-36 percent, a margin of some 8-thousand votes out of 80-thousand cast.
In the other congressional districts, Ashley Hinson won the GOP nomination in District 1; she’ll take on first-term incumbent Abby Finkenauer in the general election. State Sen. Marianette Miller-Meeks defeated four opponents to win the Republican nomination in the second district; it’s the fourth time she’s won the nomination, but this time it’s an open seat due to Dave Loebsack’s retirement. Miller-Meeks will take on Rita Hart in November. In the third district, a rematch of the 2018 race, former Congressman David Young won his primary and will take on first-term Democrat incumbent Cindy Axne, who unseated him two years ago.
On the Democrat side, Theresa Greenfield downed four opponents to win her party’s U.S. Senate nomination; she’ll face incumbent Sen. Joni Ernst in the November general election.
In Black Hawk County, one contested county-wide race, on the Democrat side for county supervisor…five candidates for three spots, and all three incumbents—Tom Little, Linda Laylin, and Chris Schwartz won nomination and move on to the general election.
In Iowa House District 60, Republican Ryan Howard defeated Colleen Tierney, he’ll face first-term incumbent Dave Williams in the fall.
Secretary of State Paul Pate reports a record turnout for an Iowa primary with more than 500-thousand votes cast; the prior record, in 1994 when incumbent Gov. Terry Branstad faced a challenge from Congressman Fred Grandy, was 449-thousand.
A second Test Iowa site will open in Waterloo today…it will be at Peoples Community Health Clinic at 905 Franklin Street downtown. As opposed to the other site still open in Waterloo, this is not a drive-thru location. The current drive-thru site at Crossroads will remain open through Friday, June 12 and perhaps longer.
As law enforcement worked to disperse crowds of protestors as things became more violent during late night protests at the statehouse this week, some reporters were detained or hit with pepper spray. Department of Public Safety Commissioner Stephen Bayens talked about the issue at a news conference yesterday. Bayens says more organized elements, perhaps part of a national group, were involved in escalating the protests.
