(Radio Iowa) – Five people are now jailed and more arrests are expected in what Des Moines police say was a drug-related kidnapping. On Monday night, a 20-year-old Des Moines man was reported missing as rumors swirled he’d been kidnapped. On Tuesday morning, investigators found evidence the unidentified man had been held against his will and assaulted in an apartment — but had been moved to another apartment. His captors released him and detectives found him at a hospital with significant injuries.

The five kidnapping suspects range in age from 21 to 25 and all are from Des Moines or West Des Moines. Five guns were seized, including two that were reported stolen. Police say evidence indicates the victim was believed to owe a drug debt.  The suspects arrested include:

Brandon Dwight Johnson, 21-year-old from Des Moines
o Kidnapping – 2nd Degree
o Felon In Possession Of A Firearm

Deng Gai, 21-year-old from Des Moines
o Kidnapping – 2nd Degree
o Possession Of A Controlled Substance With Intent To Deliver
o Failure To Affix Tax Stamp

Michel Gai, 22-year-old from Des Moines
o Kidnapping – 2nd Degree
o Felon In Possession Of A Firearm

Rodney Vincent Benson, 22-year-old from Des Moines
o Kidnapping – 2nd Degree
o Carrying Weapons
o Possession Of A Controlled Substance

Malik Marquis Hawkins, 25-year-old from West Des Moines
o Kidnapping – 2nd Degree

(Radio Iowa) – The U-S Supreme Court will hear constitutional challenges today (Wednesday) to a long-established law that protects Native children from being removed from their families. The Indian Child Welfare Act requires state agencies to work with tribes on child home placements. Iowa Assistant Attorney General Diane Murphy Smith says overturning the law would be devastating to tribal communities. Smith says, “In state court, we’re really facing huge implications for our Native children and Native families, and our tribal state agreements.” She says it would scale back the state’s ability to serve and collaborate with the Meskwaki tribe in Iowa.

Before the law passed in 1978, around one-fourth of Native children were taken from their families by state child welfare agencies. Of those, 85-percent ended up in non-Native homes. Great Plains Action Society representation director Jessica Engelking says reversal of the law would undo decades of work to protect Native children. Engelking says, “I’m absolutely terrified of going back to a time where our children were just stolen with impunity, more so than they are now.” The law’s opponents argue the legislation discriminates based on race, but tribes say being Native is a political designation, not a racial one, which means tribal sovereignty is also under threat.

Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller filed an amicus brief, urging the court to reject the challenges.

(reporting by Kendall Crawford, Iowa Public Radio)

(Creston, Iowa) – Officials with the Creston Police Department report 36-year-old Melisa Rhiane Griesinger, of Creston, was arrested today (Wed.) at around 12:45-a.m.  She was charged with Public Intoxication/1st offense, and Interference with Official Acts. Griesinger was transported to the Clarke County Jail, where her cash or surety bond was set at $600.

And, a man residing in the 500 block of N. Pine Street, in Creston, told police late Tuesday morning, that the license plates on his truck had been stolen. The plate number is LGY 169. The loss was estimated at $15.

(Des Moines, Iowa) – A majority of Iowans feel the right to keep and bear arms should be a part of the Iowa Constitution. Unofficial results show 65% of Iowans voted in favor of a Constitutional Amendment, that summarily states any restrictions of the right to own and bear firearms will be subject to strict scrutiny.

Police in Red Oak report the arrest at around 3:30-a.m. today, of 49-year-old Jeffrey Dean Etter. He was taken into custody during a traffic stop, on a Montgomery County warrant for Failure to appear on a driving while revoked charge. His bond was set at $10,000. And, at around 10:35-p.m. Tuesday, Red Oak Police arrested 23-year-old Jacob David Berggren, of Red Oak, on a warrant out of Nebraska, for Violation of Probation. He was charged as a fugitive from justice and was being held in the Montgomery County Jail while awaiting extradition to Nebraska. Red Oak Police were assisted in handling the arrest, by deputies with the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office.

(Radio Iowa) – Republicans have won 34 seats in the Iowa Senate. Jack Whitver is the G-O-P leader in the Senate. “We have made history,” Whitver said. “It’s been over 50 years since either side has had a super majority.” In January, the Senate G-O-P will have the required 34 votes to confirm all state agency leaders and board and commission members Governor Kim Reynolds nominates — and Democrats cannot vote to block those appointments. Zach Wahls — the Senate’s Democratic Leader — says his party faced national headwinds that will dissipate when Donald Trump’s influence in the G-O-P starts to wane.

“We have a long road ahead of us, but I do think that there is a clear path back to political power for Democrats in the state of Iowa,” Wahls said. Wahls says one bright spot for Democrats last (Tuesday) night was the defeat of Iowa Senate President Jake Chapman, a Republican from Adel. Republicans in the Iowa House appear to have added to their majority, although results in a few races were still unknown early this (Tuesday) morning. Speaker Pat Grassley says Republicans in the Iowa House currently represent all or part of 97 counties.

“After tonight, that number is 99 of 99 counties,” Grassley said, to cheers. Iowa House Democratic Leader Jennifer Konfrst says it’s time for Democratic to turn a page and use this election as motivation. “The choices are be defeated, be down, or get ready to fight and I’m ready to fight,” Konfrst says, “and I’m ready to build back.”

The 2023 legislative session begins Monday, January 9th.

(Radio Iowa) – It appears to be a G-O-P sweep of all but one statewide race in Tuesday’s election, led by Governor Kim Reynolds. “It’s been an incredible campaign…and I’m excited to say to you tonight that we are not yet done because the best is yet to come,” Reynolds said. Reynolds defeated Democrat Deidre Dejear by 20 points. Reynolds has been governor since mid-2017.

“We are not stopping. We are not slowing down. I am so excited to get back to work and to lay out a bold, conservative agenda and to follow through with what we say we’re going to do.” Reynolds said after floods, drought, tornadoes and a pandemic, she’s ready for the next challenge. The governor made it clear she’ll ask legislators to pass a “school choice” bill to give parents state funding to cover private school tuition costs for their kids.

“It is going to be an agenda where you keep more of your money, where our schools are thriving and all parents have a choice,” Reynolds said, “where you government works for you, not the other way around.” Reynolds used part of her victory speech to praise her opponent. “She worked hard,” Reynolds said. “She traveled across Iowa to take her message to the people and while we have our differences, we both want Iowa to succeed and that’s how it should be.” DeJear said running against an incumbent governor had been incredibly difficult.

“I am extremely proud of the progress that we have been able to make,” DeJear said. “….Every day out of the week, democracy is worth fighting for.” DeJear told supporters not to give up fighting for the issues that were the basis of her campaign. “Coretta Scott King said the fight freedom is fought and won at every generation. We can’t let up,” DeJear said.
Eighty-nine-year-old Chuck Grassley won an eighth term in the U.S. Senate, defeating Democrat Mike Franken by 14 points. “I thank you for your trust in me over a long period of time,” Grassley said. “I’m in a position to do a lot for Iowa.” Grassley suggested Iowa voters have sent a message to Washington.

“The people have spoken tonight,” Grassley said. “In America we respect, revere and reflect the voice and the will of the American people.” Franken urged his supporters not to give up on politics. “For anyone who feels like their voice wasn’t heard, your story isn’t over — not by a long shot,” Franken said. “Rest, regroup, keep building and live to raise your voice another day.” Franken said his race against Grassley had been hard fought, but it was time to concede.

“Tonight, the Iowans around us have spoken and as citizens across this great nation may every vote be counted, may every outcome be accepted and may every transition be gracious,” Franken said, to applause. It appears G-O-P candidates will defeat Democrats who’ve been serving for decades as Iowa’s attorney general and state treasurer. Results after 1 a.m. show State Auditor Rob Sand, a Democrat, leading Republican Todd Halbur by about three-thousand votes.

(Radio Iowa) – Republicans scored clear wins in Iowa’s first, second and fourth congressional districts, but the Associated Press and other media organizations have not yet called the race in Iowa’s third district. Unofficial results show Republican Zach Nunn leading Democratic Congresswoman Cindy Axne by just over two-thousand votes and Nunn declared victory shortly before midnight. “I have been privileged to fight for you on the battlefield…I now am humbled to serve as your congressman in Washington, D-C,” Nunn said.

The race was touted as one of the keys to Republicans taking back control of the U-S House. “This district, this race, changes the course of America,” Nunn said to cheers. “So I want to say thank you.” By 2 a.m., all 21 counties in the third district had reported results and Nunn’s lead was just over half a percent.

Republican Congresswoman Ashley Hinson of Marion defeated Democrat Liz Mathis by 18 points in the second district race. In a speech to supporters, Hinson celebrated her win and other G-O-P victories. “I think it goes without saying, but wasn’t this a decisive victory for Iowa tonight?” Hinson said, to cheers. “It was very clear that tonight Iowans embraced the Iowa way and we rejected the D.C. way.” The outcomes of several House races around the country are yet to be decided, but Republicans appear poised to have a narrow majority in 2023. “When I’m seeing, it is the most critical time to stand up and speak up and fight for our values,” Hinson said.

Republican Mariannette Miller-Meeks of LeClaire has won a second term in the U.S. House. At 2 a.m., Miller-Meeks held a 20-thousand vote lead — far larger than her narrow six-vote win in 2020.  “People wanted to send a message to Washington, D.C., that they wanted to get the country back on track,” Miller-Meeks says, “and they wanted someone who was paying attention to their pain and suffering.” Miller-Meeks says the Republican-led congress needs to hold the Biden Administration accountable for the mistakes made during the withdrawal from Afghanistan and congress should investigate how the Centers for Disease Control responded to COVID-19 under the Trump and Biden Administrations.

“There certainly may be other things that other members of congress want to investigate,” Miller-Meeks says. “I think we need to be very tempered in our approach and, most importantly, we need to pass legislation to show that we can govern and that we’re attentive to the needs of people.”

Secretary of State Paul Pate says due to technical issues, two counties in the first congressional district have not yet released the results from 30-thousand ballots that were cast in Warren and Des Moines Counties. Christina Bohannan, the Democrat who challenged Miller-Meeks, told supporters in Iowa City there were still votes to count and she was not conceding the race, but would accept the final results.

In Iowa’s fourth district, Republican incumbent Randy Feenstra of Hull won with 67 percent of the vote. Feenstra held an election night event at the library in Hull. “The voters look at whatever has done the past two years and they understand that they need somebody with a loud voice,” Feenstra said, “when I think of our agriculture community, our small businesses and our families — they need somebody that can have a seat at the table and get things done for them — not for the nation, but for Iowans.” Feenstra’s Democratic opponent Ryan Melton of Nevada says he woke up feeling invigorated — and getting 30 percent of the vote was a solid result considering all the variables involved in a district with 95-thousand more Democrats than Republicans.

(Radio Iowa) America’s longest serving Attorney General was defeated by Republican Brenna Bird. Democrat Tom Miller called Bird last (Tuesday) night to concede.

(as said) “I told her she’s going to get a great job and it is an absolutely great job,” Miller says. “You know we’re disappointed in the result and this who wave that hit so many people. I’m very thankful for the 40 years that I had.”

Miller, who is 78, says he’s not sure what’s next for him.

(as said) “But it’s been a great run and I’m grateful to the voters, to the staff, to my family and wonderful supporters,” Miller said.

With 97 of 99 counties reporting unofficial results, Republican Roby Smith defeated long-time State Treasurer Mike Fitzgerald 51 to 49 percent. Republican incumbents Paul Pate, the secretary of State, and Mike Naig, the state ag secretary, were the top vote getters as they easily won reelection Tuesday.

(Cass & area Counties) – There were no surprises with regard to the County winners of the General Election, Tuesday, at least in Cass, Audubon, Montgomery and Shelby Counties, where the candidates on the ballot ran unopposed.

Voter turnout in Cass County was 55.26% (5,320 ballots cast out of 9,628 registered voters).

For more detailed results, see our separate reports posted Tuesday night, or click HERE

In Adair County, Nathan Baier defeated challenger Doug Davidson for the Adair County Board of Supervisors District 4SE seat. The final tally showed Baier with more than 67% of the vote, 395-191. Voter turnout in Adair County was a little more than 48%, with 3,583 ballots cast, five blank ballots and 175 write-in ballots.

In Adams County there were six people running for five open seats on the non-partisan Adams County Extension County. The winners were Kyle Shipley, Laura Bowman, Clifford Mann, Rex Townsend and Chris Gilbert. Voter turnout was 59%. The same number of voters turned out in Audubon County.

Voters in Guthrie County elected Maggie Armstrong to the Board of Supervisors in District 3. She garnered more than 76% of the vote over her opponent, Tom Flanary. And, Steve Smith won the District 4 seat on the Board of Supervisors in Guthrie County. He defeated Michael Herbert, 674-to 273. And, Dana Minteer won the race with John A. Maschmann for County Attorney, by a vote of 3,252 to 1,566. Officials say there was a 61% voter turnout in Guthrie County.

Voters in Pottawattamie County had to choose from four people to fill three At-Large seats on the County Board of Supervisors during Tuesday’s General Election. The recipients of the most votes include: Susan Miller (17,163); Scott A. Belt (16,307), and Jeff Jorgensen (16,016). Jeff Shudak missed the cut with 12,478 votes. Voter turnout was 45%.