(Area News) – It took a while for some counties to report their final election results from Tuesday’s General Election in Iowa. Cass County, which normally has the Absentee ballots reported first, didn’t get those results in until 2:43-a.m. Wednesday, due in-part to the heavy voter turnout.

In Cass County (IA), Republican incumbent Bernard Pettinger, of Anita held off a challenge from Democrat Phyllis Stakey of Massena, for the Board of Supervisors in District 5. Four candidates were running for three seats on the (non-partisan) Soil and Water Conservation District Board. The winners include: Curt Behrends, of Wiota; Chris P. Witzman, of Atlantic, and Chase Wheatley, of Massena.

A Public Measure for an EMS income surtax and assessed valuation tax passed in Cass County by a vote of 4,883 Yes to 1,506 No. Voters in the CAM School District in Cass County failed to approve a $22.5-million dollar bond measure, 859 NO to 671 Yes. The total vote (all CAM district counties) was 884 NO, 697 YES. A $55-million bond measure for Iowa Western Community College to pay for infrastructure and other improvements to the college’s campuses, including here in Atlantic, failed by a slim margin, 45,319 YES to 30, 977 NO, or 59.4%. The measure needed a 60% super majority vote to pass.

The Iowa Western Community College Public Measure also passed in Audubon, Montgomery, Pottawattamie and Shelby Counties. The measure failed in Adair and Adams Counties

There were no contested races in Adair and Montgomery Counties.

Voters in Adams County chose Christopher Standley to represent them on the District 5 Supervisors seat. His opponent was Karl McCarty. Adams County voters defeated Public Measure AJ, which asked if the Board of Supervisors be reduced from five members to three, per Iowa Code. The vote was 1,372 NO to 667 YES.

In Audubon County, where there were four candidates hoping to fill two seats on the Board of Supervisors, the winners were Republicans Kent Grabill and Donald J. Mosinski. And, Republican incumbent Audubon County Auditor Lisa Frederiksen held-off a challenge from Christena Hemmingsen, winning by a vote of 2,189 to 759.

In Guthrie County, voters chose Sheriff’s Deputy Matt Harmann, a Republican, to replace long-time incumbent Democrat Sheriff Marty Arganbright. Harmann won by more than 1,500 votes. There were five candidates for four seats on the County Ag. Extension Council in Guthrie County. The voters chose Carol Wendt, Kayla Willms, Ruth Blomquist and Dwayne Seeck for those positions.

Pottawattamie County voters elected Republican incumbent Auditor Mary Ann Hanusa over her challenger Bryan Jack Holder, an Independent candidate. In Shelby County, there were six people running for four seats on the County Ag Extension Council. The winners were Connie Petersen, Michele Monson, Kathy Fara and Larry J. Wendt, Jr.

(Red Oak, Iowa) – Two men were arrested on separate charges in Red Oak. Tuesday night, 35-year-old Bryceton Lee Flathers, of Red Oak, was arrested in the 900 block of N. 4th Street, for Domestic Abuse Assault/1st offense. Flathers was being held without bond in the Montgomery County Jail.

And, at around 1:50-a.m. Wednesday (Today, Nov. 6th), Red Oak Police arrested 38-year-old Dustin Keith Edie, of Red Oak. He was arrested in the 800 block of Eastern Avenue, for Interference with Official Acts. Edie was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $300 bond.

(Radio Iowa) – Donald Trump has won Iowa’s six electoral college votes for a third time. However, Trump’s double-digit victory here over Kamala Harris is by a wider margin than in the two previous Iowa General Elections. Iowa Republican Party chairman Jeff Kaufmann celebrated last (Tuesday) night with the crowd at the party’s headquarters in Des Moines.

“Let’s make sure the entire state hears us,” Kaufmann said. “Donald Trump won Iowa!” A statement from the Trump campaign says Hawkeye state voters are eager for President Trump to fix what Kamala Harris broke. It closed with a dig at Ann Selzer, who runs the Des Moines Register’s Iowa Poll. A poll released Saturday showed Harris leading Trump in Iowa.

“The Iowa Poll was a joke this year,” Kaufmann said. “…I think every single person in here that’s a Republican…that believes that we need to have accuracy in reporting…here’s my challenge to you: Cancel your subscription to the Des Moines Register and get five more people to do it, too.” Unofficial results indicate Trump received over 56 percent support in Iowa — and finished 14 points ahead of Harris.

Kaufman told Radio Iowa the party’s strategy of urging G-O-P voters to cast absentee ballots paid off. “The first time in Iowa history Republicans are…ahead in terms of number in early voting,” Kaufmann says. There were also long lines at many polling places yesterday. “I would be very, very surprised if we didn’t have more Republican voters than Democrats as we usually do on Election Day as well,” Kaufmann said.

(Radio Iowa) – Republicans appear to have secured supermajorities in the Iowa legisalture, although there could be recounts in some close races. House Speaker Pat Grassley says Republicans in the Iowa House have expanded their majority to 67 seats. “We may have to add on to the Capitol so there’s a room big enough to hold all the House Republicans that we’re going to have this upcoming session,” Grassley said, to cheers. Every Republican incumbent seeking reelection to the House won.

Grassley suggests Democrats, by focusing on the abortion issue, were at a disadvantage. “Why in the world is a party running on one issue…killing babies?” Grassley asked. “And I think Iowans rejected that wholeheartedly tonight here in the Iowa House.”

Republicans have held 34 of 50 seats in the Iowa Senate for the past two years and unofficial results indicate Republicans will hold that 34-seat supermajority when the legislature convenes in January. The state’s most expensive legislative race was in central Iowa – and Democrat Matt Blake, a former Urbandale City Councilman, defeated long-time state Senator Brad Zaun.

Zaun, a Republican who ran for congress in 2010 and 2014, was the only elected official in Iowa to endorse Donald Trump before the 2016 Iowa Caucuses.

(Radio Iowa) – Republican Ashley Hinson won reelection with 57 percent of the vote in Iowa’s second congressional district.) “Fellow patriots and fellow Iowans — we got it done!” Hinson said, to cheers. Hinson, who defeated a Democratic incumbent in 2020, secured a third term in the U-S House with last (Tuesday) night’s victory. “We sent a message, a loud and clear message, that Iowans believe in strong, conservative leadership,” Hinson said.

Hinson, who was endorsed by Trump earlier this year, told a crowd of supporters in Cedar Rapids she looks forward to working with a Trump White House. “Our values and our way of life have come under attack by liberals like Kamala Harris who want to turn our country into a liberal wasteland…They’re radical, they’re wrong and we are going to stop them. Are you with me?” Hinson asked, and the crowd cheered.

Jodi Puffett of Delhi, the independent candidate who ran against Hinson, got about one percent of the vote.

(Radio Iowa) – Fourth district Congressman Randy Feenstra finished 40 points ahead of Democratic challenger Ryan Melton of Webster City. “I’m just humbled by the strong support Iowans of all 36 counties in the fourth district showed to reelect me as their voice in congress,” Feenstra says. “I take this very seriously. I work every day to deliver results for our families and our farmers and our business community.” Feenstra says the election results send a message.

“It’s clear that we’ve got to build the wall. We’ve got to secure our border,” he said. “We also have to get inflation under control. We’ve got to stop this wreckless spending and pass a balanced budget. We also have to be energy independent…We’ve got to use ethanol and biodiesel right here in Iowa.” Feenstra is on the U-S House committee that drafts tax policy and he says the priority is reauthorizing the Trump-era tax cuts that are set to expire at the end of 2025.

“This has got to be on the front burner. I mean, when people start thinking about taxes and how they’re going to plan, especially farmers and small business, they need to know. They need certainty,” Feenstra says. “…In the first 100 days, we want to try to get a tax bill out there and get it passed.”

In 2020, Feenstra defeated long-time Republican Congressman Steve King in a G-O-P Primary and has easily won his three General Election races. Republicans have a significant voter registration advantage over Democrats in the fourth district.

(Radio Iowa) – In Iowa’s third district, Congressman Zach Nunn won Tuesday’s election with about 51-and-a-half percent of the vote.  “This wasn’t supposed to happen if you pay attention to the polls, if you pay listen to the naysayers,” Nunn said, “…but the only poll that matters is the one on Election Day, and you spoke loud and clear.” Nunn told supporters at the Iowa G-O-P’s Election Night headquarters that he’ll focus on national security and border security in the next congress.

“This is my promise to every Iowan: not only are we going to be working for you, we are going to be holding Washington, D.C. of all stripes accountable to how we get things done in Iowa,” Nunn said. Nunn says the Iowa playbook can work for the entire country. “We’ve been fighting for families, for farmers,” he said, “for Main Street America.”

Nunn also saluted his Democratic challenger Lanon Baccam. Both men served in the Iowa National Guard and Baccam did a tour of duty during the Iraq War. Nunn was recently promoted to Colonel in the Air Force Reserve.

(Radio Iowa) – Three of the four Republican incumbents representing Iowa in the U-S House have won reelection. One county in the first congressional district had not reported its results by midnight and that race has not been called, but Republican Congresswoman Mariannette Miller-Meeks issued a statement shortly before 1:30 this (Wednesday) morning:  “This county has typically voted for me over 60% of their votes,” Miller-Meeks said. “We expect it to increase our margin.”

Miller-Meeks, speaking to supporters gathered at the casino in Riverside, held up copies of the Des Moines Register’s “Iowa Poll” that found voters in the district preferred a Democrat rather than a Republican this year. “Thank you Ann Selzer for motivating district one to come out and vote for Miller-Meeks for a third term,” Miller-Meeks said.

Ann Selzer is the Iowa Poll’s director. The race was considered one of the few toss up contests for a U-S House seat and millions of dollars worth of campaign ads aired in the district. “Despite the disgusting vile things that were said about me, despite the over $5.5 million dollars spent to defeat not me, to defeat us,” Miller said. “We are going to Make America Great Again.”

Democrat Christina Bohannan addressed a crowd at Big Grove Brewery in Iowa City as about 97 percent of precincts were reporting. “This is a really, really close race,” Bohannan says. “At this point, it is too close to call unfortunately.” Bohannan ran against Miller-Meeks two years ago, finishing about 20-thousand votes behind — compared to the 413 margin at midnight.  “There were people across the country who thought that we would never make it this far…and we made it a real toss up race and, as of night, it’s kind of still up in the air,” Bohannan said.

Bohannan told her supporters the campaign had been an incredible journey. “Whatever the outcome of this race is, we did something that nobody thought we could do and I want you all to remember that in the future because you have the power to do amazing things.”

Miller-Meeks told reporters she expects a recount in the race and she’s confident she’ll prevail after winning her first congressional race in 2020 after a recount.