While most eyes in Iowa during the Primary Election were on State races, there were also a handful of locally contested races in Cass and surrounding counties, with the winners advancing to the November General Election. In Cass County, incumbent Republican District 4 Supervisor Steve Baier of Griswold, defeated fellow Republican challenger Travis Erickson, from Cumberland, 236-to 89. In the Republican race for Supervisor/District 5, Bernard Pettinger, of Anita, handily defeated challenger Linda Reineke, of Massena, 182-to 92. Current District 5 Supervisor Frank Waters is not running for re-election.

In Audubon County, in the Republican race for two Supervisor At-Large seats, incumbents Todd M. Nelson and Rick Thompson were the winners, with 448 and 418 votes, respectively. Challengers Duane Deist and Louis J. Wanninger, Jr., garnered 287 and 168 votes, respectively.

In Montgomery County, incumbent Republican District 3 Supervisor Bryant Amos lost to challenger Randy Cooper, by a vote of 235-to 196. In Pottawattamie County, Brian Shea and Tim Wichman garnered the most votes out of five candidates, to take the two At-Large seats on the Board of Supervisors. And, Andy Brown was the winner for Pottawattamie County Sheriff, with 3,415 votes to challengers Rob Ambrose’ 2,588 and Danielle Bentzinger’s 1,732.

And finally, in Shelby County, the two At-Large seats on the Board of Supervisors will be filled by Steve Kenkel and Charles Parkhurst, who were not challenged for those seats.

Voter turnout across the immediate listening area averaged 25.4%, with the highest turnout of 32.5% being among voters in Montgomery County.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Longtime Rep. Steve King has been ousted in Iowa’s Republican primary after being ostracized by party leaders for comments about white nationalism. State Sen. Randy Feenstra won the five-way race Tuesday after he argued the nine-term conservative Republican had cost the district a voice in Congress by losing his committee assignments over comments in a 2018 New York Times story that seemed to defend white nationalism.

Randy Feenstra

King has a long record of incendiary comments about immigrants and white supremacy. Feenstra becomes the heavy favorite to win in the district, where registered Republicans outnumber Democrats by roughly 60,000. He faces Democrat J.D. Schoulten, who lost by 2 percentage points to King in 2018.

(Radio Iowa) — Theresa Greenfield of West Des Moines has captured the Democratic Party’s nomination for the U.S. Senate and will challenge Republican Senator Joni Ernst’s bid for a second term.”There’s no doubt this will be a tough fight, but that’s never stopped me before,” Greenfield says. “and it’s going to take all of us working together to build a strong grassroots team.” Greenfield addressed supporters with a Facebook live speech, promising to be a “new voice” as the country grapples with consequential challenges. “This moment in Iowa and our country calls for new leadership,” Greenfield said, “leadership with compassion and integrity and grit that has defined Iowans for generations.”

Theresa Greenfield

Ernst released a video message to her supporters last (Tuesday) night.  “We are going to drive on to the General Election,” Ernst said. “We are going to turn Iowa red, no doubt about it.”Ernst did not mention her opponent’s name. Greenfield used much of her primary victory speech to offer her critique of Ernst’s voting record, starting with Ernst’s opposition to the Affordable Care Act. “When it comes to our farmers, Senator Ernst voted for a fossil fuel lobbyist to run the EPA who prompted issues 85 RFS waivers,” Greenfield said. “I’ll fight to get our markets back and to protect our ethanol industry.”

Greenfield’s closest challenger was Michael Franken of Sioux City, a retired Navy Admiral who’s a native of Sioux County. He issued a statement congratulating Greenfield on her victory, pledging his support and hinting he might run for office again. “I stand before you now humbled, but with enduring faith in this great state, this great country and the value and the necessity of public service,” Franken said. “I relish what the next chapter brings.” Franken says running for office convinced him the time has come for public financing of campaigns. “And if we can’t do that as a nation, then I will go on record and say that we should have term limits,” Franken says.

Kimberly Graham, an attorney from Indianola, placed third in her first run for elected office. During an online conversation last (Tuesday) night, some of Graham’s supporters urged her to run for governor. “I’m sure there’s going to be a lot of people wanting that job and I don’t know,” Graham says. “People say this, but I truly don’t know what’s happening after tonight.” Eddie Mauro, a Des Moines businessman, finished in fourth place.

A traffic stop at around 9:30-p.m. Tuesday in Red Oak, resulted in two arrests. Red Oak Police say the driver, 49-year old David Anthony Daugherty, of Sidney, was arrested for driving while suspended with 11 withdrawals. A passenger, 40-year old Shawn Michael Wilburn of Shenandoah, was arrested on a Page County warrant for violation of probation on a drug charge.

Both men were taken to the Montgomery County Jail pending further court proceedings.

Officials with Pottawattamie County Public Health (PCPH), Tuesday, reported two new COVID-19 cases, both of whom are residents of Council Bluffs. One of the individuals is between 18-40 years of age, the other is 41-60. They were tested between May 29th & 30th. So far, 34,434 Pott. County residents have been tested for COVID-19, and a total of 309 have tested positive.

An additional eight people have recovered, bringing the total number of recoveries to 169, as of Tuesday. Officials said six people were hospitalized with the virus, and 119 are self-isolating. Based on contact investigations, PCPH says a total of 88 Pott. County cases are the result of community spread.

On June 2nd, Tyson Foods issued a media release detailing facility-wide testing for COVID-19 at the Council Bluffs facility. PCPH says it is working with the IDPH and Tyson Foods to confirm the Tyson Foods employees that tested positive and live in Pott. County, are already accounted for in the current PCPH numbers.

In addition, officials say the Pottawattamie County COVID-19 hotlines will cease operations effective at Noon today (June 3rd). Residents with general COVID-19 related questions can call 2-1-1 for assistance.

(Radio Iowa) — The 2020 Iowa legislature reconvenes today (Wednesday) after an 11 week suspension due to COVID-19 concerns. Jack Whitver of Ankeny is the Senate’s Republican Leader. “Certainly these are unprecedented times and there is no playbook for it,” Whitver says. “The whole world has changed in the last several months and our people are adapting very well, I think.”

The primary activity for lawmakers will be reworking next year’s state budget plan to account for the predicted pandemic-related slump of 360 MILLION dollars in state tax revenue. Whitver says G-O-P legislators are also discussing the idea of granting new liability protection against COVID-related lawsuits. “Many people are hesitant to open whether it’s their school, their church, their college, their salon and so that’s one of the priorities coming back,” Whitver says.

Senators are scheduled to debate more than a dozen OTHER policy proposals this afternoon and Whitver says a bill that would change the state’s medical marijuana program is on the list. “I hope to just send down the bill the governor has already agreed to, the House has already sent us,” Whitver says.

Whitver says Republican Senators will discuss the policy in private before taking a vote. The bill slightly increases the amount of T-H-C allowed in the cannabis products sold at state-licensed dispensaries in Iowa and Governor Reynolds has signalled she’ll approve it. She vetoed a more expansive bill last year. In March, cannabis dispensaries in Council Bluffs and Davenport closed abruptly. Industry advocates say Iowa’s T-H-C limits are too restrictive, making the business unprofitable.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:30 a.m. CDT

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Longtime Rep. Steve King has been ousted in Iowa’s Republican primary after being ostracized by party leaders for comments about white nationalism. State Sen. Randy Feenstra won the five-way race Tuesday after he argued the nine-term conservative Republican had cost the district a voice in Congress by losing his committee assignments over comments in a 2018 New York Times story that seemed to defend white nationalism. King has a long record of incendiary comments about immigrants and white supremacy. Feenstra becomes the heavy favorite to win in the district, where registered Republicans outnumber Democrats by roughly 60,000. He faces Democrat J.D. Schoulten, who lost by 2 percentage points to King in 2018.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Coronavirus tests have revealed that 224 employees of a Tyson beef and pork processing plant in Council Bluffs have the virus, company officials said Tuesday. The company said 103 workers stayed home the required quarantine time and have returned to work. The company has more than 1,400 employees at the plant. Tyson also says testing at its pork processing plant in Storm Lake indicated 591 positive cases out of 2,300 workers. Iowa surpassed 20,000 positive cases on Tuesday and with 21 additional deaths, 561 people have now died.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds declined to say whether there were circumstances under which she would seek President Donald Trump’s offer of military help to quell protests. Reynolds, a Republican and supporter of Trump, said at a news conference Tuesday that she relies on the advice of her public safety commissioner and other officials to ensure they have the ability to respond to protests. Reynolds said the soldiers haven’t been needed but could be quickly deployed. Reynolds declined to directly answer questions about Trump’s use of police to remove peaceful protesters Monday near the White House and his call for governors to take a similar approach in dealing with demonstrators.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Authorities in Davenport say seven heavily armed men are linked to shootings that wounded a man outside a jewelry store and a police officer during unrest that rocked the city this week. Documents from the Scott County Attorney’s Office allege the local men were responsible for some of the violence that began late Sunday and prompted the county to impose a curfew. Police are still investigating the deaths of a 22-year-old woman who was shot while leaving a protest and of a man who was found near where the suspects exchanged gunfire with police.