Republican voters in Iowa’s third congressional district failed to push a candidate across the 35 percent mark needed to secure the G-O-P nomination, so a convention will be held to pick the party’s candidate for November. Brad Zaun, a former Urbandale mayor and a current member of the state senate, was the top vote-getter, with just under 25 percent support in the primary. “My message is not going to change,” Zaun says. “Obviously going to be having a lot of conversations with all the delegates. I’ve already contacted all of them once. I personally called all of them, I’m guessing probably it’s been a couple of months ago.”

Robert Cramer, a construction company executive from Johnston, was just three-and-a-half percentage points behind Zaun. “We knew it would be tough to really pull away from the pack,” Cramer says. “But we feel like being our first time out and not being a politician that we ran a really good campaign, had a lot of good volunteers going a lot of work and we’re really pleased where we’re ending up that we think we can now make a good case to the delegates that we’d be the right guy for the job.”

The third place finisher, with just over 20 percent of the vote, was Matt Schultz, a former Council Bluffs city councilman who is currently serving as Iowa’s secretary of state. “We always thought this would go to convention,” Schultz says. “We’ve been preparing a convention strategy and now we’re going to execute it. My campaign’s always been about grassroots and I feel like a nominating convention is a great place for me.”

Six candidates rushed to run in the district after Republican Congressman Tom Latham’s surprise announcement in December that he would not seek reelection. Iowa Renewable Fuels Association executive director Monte Shaw finished in fourth place, with nearly 17 percent of Tuesday’s primary vote, followed by David Young, a former aide to Senator Grassley, who finished in fifth with about 15-and-a-half percent. The other candidate, Des Moines P-E teacher Joe Grandanette, finished with just 666 votes.

Iowa is one of just 11 states that require a candidate to secure 35 percent of the vote in a primary to become their party’s General Election nominee. Iowa Republican Party leaders have not set the date or location where party delegates in the third district will select a congressional nominee. A nominating convention is a rarity in Iowa politics. The last time it happened was in 2002, when Republicans chose Steve King as their congressional candidate in Iowa’s old fifth district. King had finished first in a four-way primary with just under 30 percent of the vote.

(Radio Iowa)

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — State Sen. Joni Ernst has won the Republican primary for an Iowa U.S. Senate seat held for 30 years by retiring Democrat Tom Harkin. The 43-year-old Ernst won the nomination over five candidates. She’ll face Democratic Rep. Bruce Braley in the November general election. If she wins election to the Senate, Ernst would become the first Iowa woman elected to Congress.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad has easily won the Republican nomination for governor as he seeks a record sixth term in office. Branstad had no trouble in Tuesday’s primary election, in which he faced conservative political activist Tom Hoefling. Branstad now will run against Democratic state Sen. Jack Hatch of Des Moines in the November general election.

MAQUOKETA, Iowa (AP) — A man convicted of killing his stepmother in 1987 and then setting fire to their Maquoketa home will now be eligible for parole. Judge Thomas Reidel on Tuesday ruled that James Corder could be eligible for parole after 25 years in prison. He’s served 26 years.

BERRIEN SPRINGS, Mich. (AP) — Searchers have found the body of a 17-year-old Iowa boy in a lake in southwestern Michigan. The Berrien County sheriff’s department says that crews found the body of Tyler Albers about 10:30 a.m. Tuesday in Berrien Springs. Authorities say one 17-year-old swimmer made it out of the water Monday evening and the other went under and didn’t surface.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – State Sen. Joni Ernst has won the Republican primary for an Iowa U.S. Senate seat held for 30 years by retiring Democrat Tom Harkin. The 43-year-old Ernst won the nomination over five candidates. She’ll face Democratic Rep. Bruce Braley in the November general election.

All the Republicans seeking the nomination described themselves as deeply conservative, but Ernst managed to stand out in part due to two television ads. One featured her on a farm, talking about her experience castrating hogs, and the other showed her firing a handgun.

Ernst also received endorsements from a variety of groups and individuals, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, National Rifle Association and Sarah Palin. If she wins election to the Senate, Ernst would become the first Iowa woman elected to Congress.