Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:40 a.m. CST

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — A slim lead held by a Republican candidate for an open congressional seat in Iowa has gotten even smaller as counties recount their votes. Republican Mariannette Miller-Meeks led Democrat Rita Hart by 47 votes in the race for Iowa’s 2nd Congressional District in unofficial results before recounts began last week. The Iowa Secretary of State’s office says Miller-Meeks’ lead has shrunk to 36 votes out of more than 394,000 cast as the recount continues. So far, 15 of 24 counties have completed recounts and sent their new unofficial totals to the state. None of the four counties Hart carried have reported new totals, including Scott and Johnson.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa surpassed 211,000 coronavirus cases and 2,200 deaths, and the state remains ranked third-highest in the nation for virus positivity rate. The Iowa Department of Public Health reports there were 1,661 new confirmed cases in the past 24 hours Monday morning and 13 additional deaths. That raised the total number of cases in Iowa to 211,722 and the total deaths to 2,205. Data from Johns Hopkins University shows Iowa’s seven-day rolling average of the positivity rate was 44.7% on Nov. 22, ranking third-highest third in the nation behind Wyoming and South Dakota.

DYSART, Iowa (AP) — Twin Iowa girls who faced long odds when they were born around the 22nd week of pregnancy are celebrating a miracle milestone — they turn 2 on Tuesday. The Des Moines Register reports that Guinness World Records has recognized Kambry and Keeley Ewoldt as the world’s most premature twins. Jade Ewoldt of Dysart gave birth to the girls on Nov. 24, 2018. Kambry weighed nearly 1 pound and Keeley weighed a little over 1 pound. The girls spent the first four months of their lives in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at the University of Iowa Stead Family Children’s Hospital. Today, the girls love singing “Baby Shark,” doing the Chicken Dance and painting pictures.

MONROE, Iowa (AP) — House Democrats lost enough seats in this month’s elections that they’ll have the smallest majority in more than a century. To find out what happened, the party has already begun a “deep dive” examination, and so far it’s blaming a parade of missteps. They include moving too far to the left on national issues, not explaining well how they’d fix an outbreak-ravaged economy and failing to grow their appeal with enough Latinos. House Democrats also were hurt by curtailing in-person campaigning amid the coronavirus pandemic. But a major factor was President Donald Trump’s ability to drive strong turnout.