(Radio Iowa) — The 2020 Iowa Caucuses are 399 days away, but the leaders of Iowa’s two major political parties say it’s already “Caucus season” in Iowa. The next Iowa Caucuses are scheduled for February 3rd, 2020, but a couple of dozen potential Democratic presidential candidates and two declared candidates have made their way through Iowa already. On the Republican side, Donald Trump has held three campaign-style rallies here since he was elected president in 2016.

The priority for the party leaders who are hosting the 2020 Caucuses? Make sure the voting goes smoothly on both sides. “This is the one, strong bipartisan part of the job that, quite frankly, I rather enjoy,” says Iowa G-O-P chairman Jeff Kaufmann. He was the party’s chairman during the 2016 Iowa Caucuses. That’s when Microsoft developed the reporting system for Caucus results from both parties. Troy Price has been the Iowa Democratic Party’s chairman since July of 2017 and he was just reelected to another two-year term in the job.

“Whatever system we end up using, we always do a lot of testing around it and we always have back-ups in case it doesn’t work,” Price says. The Iowa Caucuses are party events, so the two parties have to raise money privately for all the expenses. Iowa Democrats will have NEW expenses this time around, as NATIONAL party leaders have imposed new requirements, like allowing absentee participation.

“As well as some of the other mandates, too, in terms of like making sure we can re-canvas, recreate what happened on Caucus Night, so we know there is going to be additional expense,” Price says. “We just don’t know the final tally of that, but we are planning it’s going to cost more than what it has in the past and we are prepared to raise the resources to make sure we run a caucus that’s going to be accessible to everyone.”

In 2019, Iowa Democrats will host their presidential candidates at two annual party fundraisers — one in the summer and one in the fall. Kaufmann says the Iowa G-O-P’s leadership hasn’t yet decided when Republican party fundraisers will be held in 2019.   “I will tell you that I’m not going to provide a platform by which people, on our dime, can beat up on our Republican president,” Kaufmann says.

He says “legitimate” Republican challengers to Trump may emerge in 2019 and Kaufmann says they’ll be welcome at G-O-P events if they avoid “mud-slinging” and focus on their policy differences with the president.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:40 a.m. CST

BROWNVILLE, Neb. (AP) — Utility crews extinguished a fire at a nuclear power plant in southeast Nebraska over the weekend. The Nebraska Public Power District says the fire was discovered in the basement of the facility around 9 a.m. Saturday while crews were investigating a hazardous gas. It was extinguished before 10 a.m. The utility says the fire never threatened public safety.

CORALVILLE, Iowa (AP) — A major financial rating agency has lowered its bond ratings for an Iowa town because of how it is financing a $70 million arena project. The Iowa City Press-Citizen reports that S&P Global Ratings pointed to Coralville’s bank loans with variable interest rates to pay for the planned 5,700 seat arena set to open in 2020. City leaders say they remain confident the project does not threaten the city’s finances.

DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa woman whose son died from a drug overdose has had a chance to hear his heart beat again in the chest of an Ohio man who received it as an organ donation. The Quad City Times reports that Lisa Bragg met Friday in Davenport with 45-year-old Kenneth Vogelsong, of Sherwood, Ohio. Bragg’s 27-year-old son, Markus Abbott, died in January, and his heart was transplanted in Vogelsong.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — In 2008, Barack Obama won the hearts of Iowa Democrats. Today, his supporters are looking more pragmatically for someone who can simply seize the presidency from Donald Trump in 2020. Niki Neems, a Democratic activist in Iowa city, says that ideally she would want to fall in love with the new candidate the same way as she did with Obama. But she adds that the candidate’s ultimate success at defeating Trump is more important. Neems says, “So, for me, it’s OK to just fall in like.”

A suicidal man led Police in Council Bluffs on a chase Sunday morning, that resulted in his arrest and hospitalization. Authorities say at around 8:24-a.m., officers were dispatched to the 2500 Block of South 17th St. in Council Bluffs for a 44-year old Council Bluffs man threatening suicide by holding a gun to his head. As officers arrived in the area, the suspect fled the area in a vehicle, at a high rate of speed. Officers saw the suspect holding, what they believed to be a gun to his head.

A pursuit ensued and the suspect fled the area getting on I-80 westbound at the South Expressway.  continued to I-29 North where he made a U-turn at mile marker 57 in the median, to head back into Council Bluffs on North 16th Street. Officers were able to use the PIT (Pursuit Intervention Technique) at South 16th Street and 7th Ave. where the vehicle was disabled. The suspect was taken into custody without further incident.

The suspect had numerous self-inflicted wounds all over his body from a knife, and he made comments to the officers on scene he wanted to die. He was transported to the hospital for medical attention and evaluation. There are charges pending for Felony Eluding, Domestic Abuse-Serious, Reckless Driving, Disobedience to a Police Officer and Interference with Official Acts.

Officers from the Iowa State Patrol and the Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s office assisted in the arrest of the suspect. At this time the suspect’s name is not being released until he is formally charged.

BROWNVILLE, Neb. (AP) — Utility crews extinguished a fire at a nuclear power plant in southeast Nebraska over the weekend. The Nebraska Public Power District says the fire was discovered in the basement of the facility around 9 a.m. Saturday while crews were investigating a hazardous gas. It was extinguished before 10 a.m.

The utility says the fire never threatened public safety. NPPD and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission will investigate what started the fire and evaluate the utility’s response. The Cooper nuclear plant continued operating throughout the incident on Saturday.

Cooper sits along the Missouri River in southeast Nebraska near Brownville about 80 miles south of Omaha and across the river from Iowa.

Police in Red Oak, late Saturday night, arrested a woman for assault. 71-year old Diane Elaine Charmeda, of Red Oak, was taken into custody at around 11:15-p.m., for Domestic Abuse Assault/1st offense. Charmeda was transported to the Montgomery County Jail and held without bond, pending an appearance before the magistrate.