(Radio Iowa) – For the first time in 66 years, every member of Iowa’s federal delegation in D.C. will be a Republican when congress convenes in January. Christina Bohannan is the Democrat in Iowa’s first congressional district who lost to Republican Congresswoman Mariannette Miller-Meeks. “There’s going to have to be a lot of soul searching about where the Democrats invest,” Bohannan says. “My opinion is that we have for some time now in the national Democratic Party focused way too much on the coasts and the big cities and way too little on the Midwest, small towns and rural counties like we have in Iowa.”

In 2020, Bohannan, a University of Iowa law professor, was elected to a two-year term in the state legislature that will end in early January. Bohannan says running for federal office is far different and Democratic candidates for congress in Iowa were at a competitive disadvantage because they were massively out-spent by Republicans and their allies. “We did not have any significant investment from the national Democrats — not in the senate race, not in the congressional races except some for Cindy Axne and, in my opinion, not enough for her either,” Bohannan says, “and we saw the results.”

Congresswoman Axne, a Democrat from West Des Moines, lost to Republican Zach Nunn by seven-tenths of a percent. Bohannan lost to Miller-Meeks by seven points. Democrat Liz Mathis lost to Republican Congresswoman Ashley Hinson by 18 points. Bohannan says President Biden’s low approval rating in Iowa and concerns about inflation were a factor in those losses, but she says Democrats facing the same headwinds won in other states – because those candidates had party resources to be competitive.

“As a party, that is something that we’re really going to have to think about,” Bohannan says. The worst enemy for Iowa Democrats in the future will be a defeatist attitude, according to Bohannan. “We have to recognize we can win in Iowa,” Bohannan says. “We have to be more organized and assertive than we’ve been in the past.” Bohannan says she has no regrets about running for congress. She describes it as an incredible experience.

“I also gained a lot of insight about Iowans,” Bohannan says. “People are very tired of the fighting. They really don’t like all of the anger. They want to get back to being able to talk with one another regardless of political party, but there are people, groups, parties in this country who are trying to divide people because they think that serves their political interest to gain power.” Bohannan says Democrats need to — in her words “not take the bait” and “disagree without being disagreeable.”

(Radio Iowa) – The final batch of votes from two counties are in and Rob Sand appears to have narrowly won re-election as state auditor. About two-thousand votes from Warren County and around 800 votes from Des Moines County were added to the statewide tally on Thursday afternoon. Those unofficial results show Sand ahead of Republican challenger Todd Halbur by 26-hundred-14 votes. Halbur will ask for a recount.

“We have seen human error, technical errors and maybe even some blatant, egregious errors that have happened to our votes across the state, so therefore I will ask for a recount of the state auditor’s race,” Halbur says. Under state law, Halbur could ask for recounts in all 99 counties or ask for recounts in specific counties. He has until the end of next week to make the call.

“We will follow the process of the recount according to the rule of law outlines and after the recount, I believe myself and the voters of Iowa will feel confident in these results,” Halbur says. “I don’t feel confident in the results I’m seeing now in the unofficial results.” Because Halbur’s vote tally is currently less than one percent behind Sand’s, all recounts would be paid for by taxpayers.

If Sand is confirmed as the winner, he would be the only Democrat to win a statewide race in this year’s General Election. Sand is an attorney. He previously worked in the Iowa Attorney General’s office as the lead prosecutor in public corruption cases. He handled the prosecution of Tommy Tipton, the former Multistate Lottery I-T specialist found guilty of rigging Hot Lotto jackpots.

Halbur, Sand’s opponent, recently won a one million dollar jury verdict in his lawsuit against the State of Iowa. Halbur claims he was fired as comptroller of the Iowa Alcoholic Beverages Division after telling his bosses the agency was overcharging restaurants and retailers for liquor. Agency managers have said Halbur was fired for other reasons and lawyers for the state are reviewing whether to appeal the one million dollar verdict.

Halbur ran a low-budget campaign. He was not among the Republican candidates who appeared at the bus tour events Governor Kim Reynolds hosted during the final weeks of the campaign.

(Radio Iowa) – A ruling on an obstructed license plate will stand after a split vote in the Iowa Supreme Court on the issue. Prince Payne was stopped by an Altoona police officer who said the ball in the trailer hitch of his pickup was blocking the view of the third letter on the license plate. Payne was convicted of driving while barred, but appealed, saying the stop was illegal because the hitch ball did not violate the requirement that license plates be clearly visible.

The district court ruled against Payne, but the Court of Appeals ruled in his favor. Three Supreme Court justices favored the appeals court decision, and three favored the district court, with one justice not taking part. The high court split means the district court decision of a legal stop stands.

(Radio Iowa) – Republican Senator Amy Sinclair of Allerton will be president of the Iowa Senate when the 2023 legislature convenes. “I view the role of the president as stepping up and being the face of the people who’ve been elected to serve Iowa,” Sinclair says. “Being an arbiter of the law and the rules that we have in place for the Senate is a really important job and I will do it with fidelity.”

The 34 Republicans who’ll be serving in the Senate next year met this morning and elected Sinclair to this new role — replacing current Senate President Jake Chapman of Adel was defeated in this week’s election. Jack Whitver of Grimes was re-elected by his colleagues to be Senate Majority Leader — so Senate Republicans will have leaders from urban central Iowa and rural southern Iowa.

“Having leadership in the Iowa Senate that reflects the face of Iowa is really important and I come from one of the most rural parts of the state,” Sinclair says. “I have all or part of nine different counties, which may well be the largest district in the state.” Sinclair’s district includes the town of Clio, which has around 70 residents.

Amy Sinclair. (IA Legislature photo)

“My largest towns are in the 5000 to 6000 to 7000 range and those are our urban centers and so having a voice for people who are coming from a place where it’s not uncommon to put 40,000 miles on your car in a given year just going to work and taking your kids to school,” Sinclair says, “so being able to bring that voice to a leadership role to our caucus I think will be a phenomenal improvement for our state and the folks that I represent.”

Sinclair says the GOP’s 2023 legislative agenda will be centered around families and their jobs, “and do those things that just make the lives of Iowans better and that tax reform, that is a solid education system and just regulation and rule of law that makes sense and advances the family unit.”

Sinclair has been chair of the Iowa Senate Education Committee. She’s also guided several major pieces of legislation through senate debate since she was first elected in 2012.

House Republicans also met today and reelected Pat Grassley as Speaker and Matt Windschitl as Majority Leader.

(Radio Iowa) – The Story County Sheriff’s Office has charged a 17-year-old Roland-Story student and wrestler with one count of felony assault for stripping off the victim’s clothes assaulting him with a pencil. Roland Story senior Kade Blume was charged with from an incident that occurred on New Year’s Day. The Story County Sheriff’s Office has said that multiple wrestlers were a part of the hazing, and a second person has been charged in juvenile court.

Roland Story School District Superintendent Matt Payton released a statement that said that the district has continued to cooperate with local police and since the alleged incident did not occur on school property. We’re at a school event it has become a law enforcement matter.

Peyton has also said that the district is considering appropriate disciplinary actions for the students allegedly involved in the incident — but due to the legal obligation to protect student confidentiality, they cannot publicly share details about what the actions will be at this time

(Council Bluffs, Iowa) – A District Court Judge has granted a request from an attorney for a Cass County woman, to continue her 1st Degree Murder and Child Endangerment trial until May 1, 2023. The trial for 39-year-old Alison Dorsey, of Anita, was set last June, to take place on Dec. 5th of this year, in Pottawattamie County District Court. The charges against Dorsey stem from the October 2019 death of an infant in her care, at a home daycare facility in Massena.

According to online court records, Dorsey’s pre-trial conference (PTC) will now take place March 24, 2023 with the jury trial beginning at 9:30-a.m., on May 1st. The trial remains to be held in Council Bluffs. Dorsey’s Cass County trial in the fall of 2021 ended after six-days, when the jury in her case deadlocked. A Judge declared a mistrial.

(Clarinda, Iowa) – Clarinda Police Chief Keith Brothers reports, late Wednesday evening, Clarinda Police were notified of a juvenile’s written threat of violence to the campus of the Clarinda Lutheran School. Brothers said the “Clarinda Lutheran School has cooperated fully with the Clarinda Police Department to address this threat and the juvenile involved is currently in the custody of police.

After a thorough investigation into the threat, as well as a search of the facility, we are confident there is no on-going threat to the Clarinda Lutheran School or the community. The investigation revealed this is an isolated event. The incident report and a complaint alleging juvenile delinquency have been forwarded to Page County Juvenile Court Services.”

All juveniles are presumed innocent under our system of criminal justice until adjudicated delinquent in a court of law.

(Corning, Iowa) – The Adams County Sheriff’s Office has released a report on arrests and/or incidents occurring from Oct. 25th through the 28th:

On Oct. 25th, at around 4:52-p.m. Adams County deputies conducted a traffic stop on Highway 25 at 250th Street. Upon further investigation, 36-year-old Angel Sharpsteen was arrested and charged with Driving while (under) suspension. A passenger in the vehicle, 27-year-old Dashawn Procks, was arrested and charged with Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, and Poss. of a Controlled Substance/Marijuana – 1st offense. Sharpsteen later posted a $300 cash-only bond and was released from the Jail. Procks was later released on a $1,300 cash-only bond.

There were two arrests on Oct. 26th in Adams County. Deputies assisted a DHS worker at a location in Cumberland. Upon further investigation, 40-year-old Curtis Penton, of Cumberland, was arrested for Poss. of a Controlled substance/Methamphetamine-2nd offense, Poss. of Drug Paraphernalia, and Child Endangerment. Penton remains in the Adams County Jail on a $5,000 bond. And, deputies in Adams County made a casual encounter approach at a residence in the 900 block of Davis Avenue, in Corning. The ended-up arresting 31-year-old Colby Hoover, of Des Moines, for Public Intoxication, and Interference with Official Acts. He has since plead guilty to the charges.

On Oct. 27th, 37-year-old Jennifer Lyn Ham, of Lorimor, was arrested in Adams County for Public Intoxication. She was being held on a $300 bond. And, on the 28th, Adams County Deputies arrested 28-year-old Joshua Haggerty, for PCS/Marijuana-3rd offense. He later posted a $2,000 cash or surety bond, and was released.

*Any potential criminal charges identified above are merely allegations and any defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

WASHINGTON – Ahead of Black Friday, U.S. Senators Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) and Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, are asking the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) to make additional staffing preparations to handle the influx of legal gun purchases and background checks conducted through the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) expected during the holidays.

In a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland, the senators write: “The FBI is notoriously understaffed on Black Friday, despite knowing year-after-year of the high-volume of gun sales. This must change. Now is the time to prepare the FBI and ATF for adequate staffing to avoid the inevitable holiday rush. The letter continues: “Black Friday is less than a month away and reports already indicate the ATF is shorthanded and facing backlogs. The current wait time for approval of a paper Form 4, which is used to complete a tax stamp purchase, is one year, and an e-Form 4 is at least 180 days, some taking more than a year.  The average processing time for an e-Form 4 has increased by 80 days since the enactment of the ‘Frame or Receiver’ final rule, which went into effect just over a month ago.”

Traditionally, Black Friday is among the top ten highest days for legal gun sales and background checks through NICS. Last year, NICS recorded 187,585 checks on Black Friday alone. Despite the year-after-year high volume of gun sales, the FBI is notoriously understaffed on this day, which has caused delays and backlogs.

Read the full letter here.