There is a very unexpected twist in the Iowa 4th Congressional District competition that will be decided by voters in November. A Republican who lost in a primary contest earlier this summer is now urging Iowans to vote for the Democrat in the race.
Two-term Congressman Randy Feenstra, who won the Republican nomination over Kevin Virgil, by getting 60 percent of the vote.
That outcome has emboldened Virgil to not only potentially run again in 2026, but over the weekend he began urging Republicans to “hold their nose” and vote this fall for Ryan Melton, the Democratic nominee.
Virgil, who is a businessman from Sutherland, Iowa, posted on X/Twitter that Iowa Republicans should split their ballot, voting for Melton, and sticking with the Republican presidential nominee, Donald Trump.
Virgil said his “phone has been ringing off the hook” since his announcement, with some Republicans being upset. He wrote that Feenstra is “widely disliked. Most voters acknowledge that he accomplishes nothing.”
Virgil said he disagrees with Melton on such issues as taxation, but believes he is pragmatic and cast votes not so much from a left liberal side.
In a release on Monday, the Feenstra campaign said Virgil is a “liberal and chose to endorse a Democrat that would block the Trump agenda at every opportunity.”
Back in June after the Republican primary, Steve King, the prior congressman who served Northwest Iowa and North Central Iowa, voiced support for Virgil, calling Feenstra a “lame duck.” King had been a congressman for 18 years, until fellow Feenstra mounted his ultimately successful campaign to retire King in 2020.
*The Federal Emergency Management Agency will close three centers that were created to help people as a one-stop shop to learn about government programs that can help people impacted by summer flooding.
FEMA opened nine Disaster Recovery Centers in NOrthwest Iowa in July, and some will now close. The centers in Cherokee and Emmet counties will close at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, August 28, and the one in O’Brien County will close at the end of the day on Friday, August 30.
At the same time, the first FEMA center in Southeast South Dakota will open in Union County, in North Sioux City. Union County residents impacted by the late June flooding have through October 14 to apply for assistance.
Additionally, the Disaster Recovery Center in Woodbury County will move on WEdnesday from its location on the east edge of Sioux City, to the parking lot of Morningside Lutheran Church, just south of Gordon Drive and South Martha Street.
*Additionally, Nebraskans will need to be watchful as they cast ballots in the November general election, which has some special ballot measures.
The Nebraska Secretary of State has confirmed that two competing proposals regarding abortion access have qualified for the ballot. This marks the first time in state history that two measures dealing with the same issue are one the same ballot, Nebraska Secretary of State Bob Evnen said in a press release.
If a majority of voters approve both proposals in November, whichever gets the most votes will be adopted into Nebraska’s constitution.
One proposal, sponsored by the Protect Women & Children campaign, would enshrine the current law banning most abortions after the first trimester through a constitutional amendment.
That amendment would allow future restrictions to abortion in Nebraska and is supported by Nebraska’s most prominent anti-abortion groups. The Ricketts family, including senator and former governor Pete Ricketts, has donated more than $2 million to the effort.
Secondly, voters will also see a proposal to expand abortion rights until fetal viability, which is usually about 24 weeks. That petition was backed by Protect Our Rights, a coalition of pro-abortion rights groups like Planned Parenthood, ACLU Nebraska and I Be Black Girl.
*In other news, the average price of self-serve unleaded gasoline dropped by 8 cents over the last week, averaging $3.18 across Iowa.
That price of $3.18 is down 47 cents compared to one year ago.
Many Sioux City and surrounding town stations are selling unleaded this week in the range from $2.87 to $3.13, or less than the state average. The national average unleaded price has now dropped to $3.39.
