KHOI's Capitol Week

Laura Belin and Spencer Dirks began with Iowa Republicans accepting the results of a blue wave election, and the Iowa Secretary of State's comments on high turnout and his interest in expanding early voting. They discussed Governor-elect Rob Sand's transition plans from several angles, including his "tripartisan" team, the state agency leaders he wants to replace, and proposals he will bring to the GOP-controlled legislature. Other topics covered: the Iowa House speaker taking a special session off the table, change coming to important legislative committees, a recount coming in one state House race, the record number of women elected to the Iowa Senate, and the Iowa House minority leader on how they flipped eleven seats. Finally, they covered some news about the Iowans in Congress.

Laura Belin and Spencer Dirks spent a full hour talking about Iowa's state and federal election results, going in depth on the big Democratic victories: Rob Sand for governor, Josh Turek for Senate, flipping three of the four U.S. House districts, defeating the Republican attorney general, and keeping the state auditor's office in Democratic hands. They also discussed the Democratic gains in the state legislature, including some surprising wins.

In this final pre-election episode, Laura Belin and Spencer Dirks discussed the latest early vote numbers, what Iowans need to bring to vote on election day, and the U.S. Department of Justice plans to send monitors to Iowa. They covered notable remarks from President Donald Trump's rally in Dubuque and a MAHA rally for Zach Lahn featuring Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. Other topics covered: the last televised debates, closing messages from the candidates for governor and U.S. Senate, super PAC spending to boost the Libertarian Senate candidate, and closing messages from the races for first and third Congressional districts and Iowa attorney general.

Laura Belin and Spencer Dirks began with an update on Iowa's early voting numbers, then discussed Donald Trump's rally in Sioux City from several angles, with highlights from remarks by the president, Zach Lahn, Ashley Hinson, Joe Mitchell, and Brenna Bird. During the second half of the show, they covered news from the governor's race (a New York Times scoop, a misleading campaign ad, more legal woes for Derek Wulf), Josh Turek's closing TV ads for the U.S. Senate race, and news from Iowa's first Congressional district (the only debate between Mariannette Miller-Meeks and Christina Bohannan, and a Democratic-funded mailer targeting independent candidate Michael Bridgford).

Laura Belin and Spencer Dirks began with somber news about the First Gentleman's cancer recurrence and a tragedy in Rob Sand's family. They discussed fundraising, advertising, and debate news from Iowa's four U.S. House races, starting with some GOP super PACs pulling out of IA-01. Other topics covered: the second debates between Iowa's candidates for governor and U.S. Senate, the first ad highlighting legal problems of the GOP nominee for lieutenant governor, and highlights from the latest fundraising reports for Iowa's statewide candidates.