(Washington, D-C/KCCI)  — Congressman Randy Feenstra announced his plans for re-election. KCCI says the fourth district congressman announced Wednesday he will be running to maintain his seat in 2022. In a statement released Wednesday, he said, “With the support of my family and friends, and through prayerful consideration, I launched my first campaign for Congress because we needed a conservative leader to deliver results for Iowa. In just our first 10 months in Congress, we’ve restored Iowa’s seat on the House Agriculture Committee, passed needed disaster relief for our farmers, promoted our biofuels, passed legislation to stop the Chinese Communist Party from stealing our taxpayer-funded research, defended our conservative values and fought against the advance of socialism in America. After we defeat Speaker Pelosi in 2022, we will enact a conservative agenda to end reckless spending, protect innocent life, defend our 2nd amendment and restore America’s strength around the world.”

Also in the statement, Gov. Kim Reynolds, Sen. Joni Ernst and Sen. Chuck Grassley gave endorsements for Feenstra’s run. Iowans elected Feenstra over Democrat J.D. Scholten in 2022 after Feenstra defeated long-time Rep. Steve King in the primaries. So far, no one else has announced a run for the fourth district seat.

(Radio Iowa) – Governor Kim Reynolds says Iowa is scheduled to receive its first shipment of Covid-19 vaccines for younger children sometime this week. The dosage level will be different for kids between the ages of five and 11 than it has been for adults. “We will be dispersing them to pediatricians and pharmacies,” Reynolds says.

In the next couple of weeks, the F-D-A and C-D-C are expected to approve giving Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine to children who’re five through 11 years of age. Reynolds is making it clear she will oppose vaccine mandates in Iowa elementary schools. “I do not believe in mandating vaccines. I’ve been very clear about that,” Reynolds says. “I’ve been vaccinated…It’s our best defense in addressing Covid-19 and the delta variant.”

But Reynolds says parents should make the decision about whether their children get a Covid shot. “I believe that parents should be in charge of not only their children’s education, but their children’s health are, so they need to visit with their pediatrician, ask the questions they have and then parents will make the decision in what’s best for their children,” Reynolds says. “It’s not the government’s children. It’s their children.”

Reynolds says she opposes employment-related vaccine mandates for adults and may join a lawsuit challenging President Biden’s order, once the rule-making is done, to require vaccinations in the military, in the health care industry and in private companies with more than 99 employees.  “We’re going to see what is the best route, what are our options moving forward and how do we get this stayed,” Reynolds says, “so we’re not mandating that an individual make this decision between feeding their family or getting a vaccine that they fundamentally do not believe that they should.”

That latest information shows two-thirds of Iowa adults are fully vaccinated against Covid-19. Among Iowa teenagers, 45 percent of 16 and 17 year olds are vaccinated and 39 percent of Iowa kids between the ages of 12 and 15 are vaccinated.

(Radio Iowa) – The second set of maps proposing new boundaries for Iowa’s four congressional districts and all state legislative districts will be released after 10 this (Thursday) morning. The non-partisan Legislative Services Agency will deliver the redistricting plan to legislators first, then release it to the public via the Iowa General Assembly’s website.

On October 5th, the 32 Republicans in the Iowa Senate rejected Plan 1 for redistricting and directed the Legislative Services Agency to develop new maps with legislative districts that were closer in total population. Governor Reynolds has set October 28th as the date for a special session so lawmakers can vote on this second set of maps.