The news — garnering broad applause from a packed crowd in the union — doubled as a welcome home for Cook, who was born in Mary Greeley Medical Center, graduated from Ames High, and earned a bachelor’s degree from Iowa State in 1992.
Iowa state Sen. Molly Donahue is calling for the resignation of three Cedar Rapids school board members after a multimillion dollar school bond referendum failed voter approval Tuesday.
Two weeks after the 94-year-old Black Hawk Bridge was closed permanently — and more than a year until the new bridge will open — a car ferry began service Monday, transporting motorists, pedestrians and others across the Mississippi River in northeast Iowa.
This week on the podcast, we’ll follow up on what happened in Iowa’s local elections and we’ll analyze this week’s national off-year election results and what they mean for 2026 in Iowa.
Wearing red “Iowa First LFG” hats, supporters cheered as Lahn vowed to protect farmland, oppose corporate consolidation and champion socially conservative policies in a bid to reshape Iowa’s future.
Get to know The Gazette’s Deputy Des Moines Bureau Chief Tom Barton
Rep. Randy Feenstra finally makes his gubernatorial campaign official. Plus, we look ahead to next week’s local elections and explore readers’ questions about how elections officials catch fraudulent voting.
Iowa Hawkeyes Women’s Wrestling head coach Clarissa Chun speaks during Media Day
Video of the Tom Brands press conference during Iowa Hawkeyes Men’s Wrestling Media Day Wednesday, October 29, 2025.
This week on the On Iowa Politics podcast, we talk about the No Kings rallies in Iowa, Rob Sand’s 100th town hall, and Iowa’s DOGE report.
Rob Sand wrapped up his 100 Town Hall Tour in Decorah, capping a months-long journey through all 99 counties with calls for bipartisan reform, stronger oversight of public funds, and practical action on education and water quality. “Iowans are fed up,” he said.
From a study of public employee salaries and benefits, to teacher bonuses for student achievement and incentives for shared government services, the Iowa DOGE Task Force report includes a number of recommendations for making Iowa government more efficient.
At Lion Bridge Brewery in Cedar Rapids, U.S. Senate candidate Nathan Sage shared his story of growing up poor in Mason City, serving three tours in Iraq, and leading a local chamber of commerce — arguing those experiences shaped his fight for workers, unions and rural Iowans.
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