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

WASHINGTON (AP) — Today (Tuesday) marks the last time the leading Democratic presidential contenders will face a national audience on the debate stage before primary voting begins, making it the most significant moment of the 2020 primary season to date. The prime-time faceoff comes just 20 days before Iowa’s caucuses as polls suggest the nomination is truly up for grabs. Heading in, there are new signs of tension among all the top-tier candidates, particularly Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren. If ever there has been a time for the six contenders on stage to take the gloves off, this is it.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A new dispute between Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders marks a significant turning point in a Democratic primary that has generally been characterized by genial differences over policy. On Monday, Warren said Sanders told her during a private meeting two years ago that he didn’t think a woman could win the White House. Sanders has denied telling Warren that, and a senior Sanders adviser says that “those conversations can sometimes get misconstrued.” The feud brewing between Warren and Sanders will likely change the tone of the campaign going into Tuesday’s debate.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — President Donald Trump will be holding a rally in Iowa just days before the state holds its election kickoff caucuses. Trump’s reelection campaign announced Monday that he will be rallying supporters in Des Moines on Jan. 30. That’s four days before the contest for the Democratic nomination formally gets underway. It’s one of a series of events in states across the country that will keep Trump in the spotlight and give him a platform to make his case directly to voters as the impeachment case against him heads toward the Senate.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Presidential candidates have swarmed Iowa’s rolling landscape for more than a year, making their pitch to potential supporters on college campuses, county fairgrounds and in high school gymnasiums. But three weeks before the caucuses usher in the Democratic contest, the battle for the state is wide open. A cluster of candidates, including Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, along with Joe Biden and Pete Buttigieg, enters the final stretch with a plausible chance of winning Iowa’s caucuses. A poll released Friday by The Des Moines Register and CNN found them all with similar levels of support.

DES MOINES – Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds today (Monday), announced appointments to Iowa’s boards and commissions.

The following appointments (of area persons) are subject to Senate confirmation:

Commission of Deaf Services: Chris Nipper, Council Bluffs

Iowa Autism Council: Cheryl Mulligan, Shenandoah

The following appointments are not subject to Senate confirmation:

Armory Board: Virginia Taylor, Exira

Southwest Regional STEM Advisory Board:

• Nadine Jessen, Exira
• Stephanie Lane, Creston
• Deb Sprecker, Woodbine
• Terry Torneten, Harlan

STEM Advisory Council:

Barbara Crittenden, Creston

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Democrats are preparing for what could be their most contentious debate yet. The six candidates on the stage Tuesday night are all looking for a way to break out of the crowded pack at the top with just weeks to go until the Iowa caucuses.

Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Amy Klobuchar, Joe Biden, Pete Buttigieg and Tom Steyer will all appear at the debate. It marks the first all-white debate stage of the cycle, which is sure to underscore concerns among Democrats at the lack of diversity in the field.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – President Donald Trump will be holding a rally in Iowa just days before the state holds its election kickoff caucuses. Trump’s reelection campaign announced Monday that he will be rallying supporters in Des Moines on Jan. 30. That’s four days before the contest for the Democratic nomination formally gets underway.

It’s one of a series of events in states across the country that will keep Trump in the spotlight and give him a platform to make his case directly to voters as the impeachment case against him heads toward the Senate.

(Radio Iowa) — Linda Upmeyer of Clear Lake closed out her tenure as speaker of the Iowa House Monday morning. Last fall, Upmeyer announced she would not seek re-election to the House in November of 2020 and would immediately step down as the leader of House Republicans for the 2020 legislative session. In October, House Republicans selected Pat Grassley as Upmeyer’s successor and he was installed after a vote in the full House Monday morning. Upmeyer, though, was able to give one last speech from the speaker’s chair.

“As the first woman to serve as speaker of the Iowa House, I hope that my time has inspired girls and young women,” Upmeyer said. “When you dream big and work hard, nothing is unattainable.” Upmeyer’s late father, Del Stromer of Garner, was speaker of the Iowa House in the early 1980s. “Someday, God willing, I’ll have an opportunity to have a discussion with my dad. I’m sure he will be very proud of what we’ve accomplished on behalf of Iowans,” Upmeyer says. “I’m also sure that there will be a couple of things where he’ll say: ‘Girl, what were you thinking?'”

Upmeyer, who is still a voting member of the House in 2020, told reporters she hasn’t lost any sleep about her decision to resign as House speaker. “From time to time I’ll think of a bill, perhaps, that I was interested in and say: ‘Oh, we didn’t get that passed,'” Upmeyer said, snapping her fingers. “But, you know, I still have this year.” Upmeyer says it feels nice to have a reduced workload now that she’s not in charge of raising money and recruiting candidates for House races.

“I traded cars because I wouldn’t have to put 25,000 miles on my car every year,” Upmeyer told reporters this morning. Another former speaker of the House has made a gavel for the new speaker. House Speaker Pat Grassley’s dad cut a limb from a walnut tree on the Grassley family farm near New Hartford for the project.

“It was a surprise to me, so that’s pretty neat,” Grassley says. “We actually have two more (gavels) out of that, so one for each of my children at some point.” Grassley, who is the grandson of U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley, is predicting his young daughter Reagan — named for former President Ronald Reagan — may follow him into politics.