Good morning from Iowa Capital Dispatch.
“They are there strictly as a monitor. They can (have) no contact with our election workers, nor do they consult or advise or have any direct impact in that respect at all. They will let the county auditors know if they’re coming in. They will (send) to those county auditors their credentials to make sure, but they’re not in uniform, and they’re not imposing themselves on the process in any manner.” — Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate, about U.S. Department of Justice election monitors expected to be at some polling locations in Iowa on Election Day.
U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. spoke alongside Iowa Republican gubernatorial candidate Zach Lahn at a rally hosted by the MAHA PAC in Clive Oct. 28, 2026. (Photo by Robin Opsahl/Iowa Capital Dispatch)
Iowa Republican gubernatorial candidate Zach Lahn emphasized his opposition to the COVID-19 vaccine Wednesday at his “Make America Healthy Again” rally with U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Lahn has long highlighted his support for the MAHA movement spearheaded by Kennedy at the federal level, which he says centers around his positions on healthy food, clean water and safe medications. The candidate, who is running against Iowa Auditor of State Rob Sand in the Nov. 3, 2026, general election, said his top priority as governor “is to clean up our water and to stop the cancer crisis in the state of Iowa.” But he also said there are many other health-related proposals he supports as a candidate — including restrictions on the availability of certain vaccines.
The U.S. Department of Energy agreed to an up to $5.1 billion loan to Alliant Energy. (Photo by Robert Zullo/ States Newsroom)
Alliant Energy Corporation has closed a $5.1 billion loan package with the U.S. Department of Energy to fund power generation and energy storage projects in Wisconsin and Iowa.
A news release from the DOE said the loan would help to “strengthen grid reliability in Iowa and Wisconsin” by adding more than 2.6 gigawatts of power generation capacity and delivering electricity cost savings of more than $1 billion to ratepayers in both states. A spokesperson for Alliant said if the company accesses the full lower-interest loan package from DOE, the projected lifetime-adjusted interest savings would result in Iowa customer savings of $800 million.
Iowa Supreme Court upholds dismissal of former Dordt student appeal in religious discrimination case
The Iowa Supreme Court has upheld a lower court’s dismissal of a Dordt University student’s claim of religious discrimination that stemmed from a request for a COVID-19 vaccination exception.
Election monitors for the U.S. Department of Justice will be deployed to some Iowa polling locations on Election Day, Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate confirmed Wednesday.
A leak in a liquid fertilizer tank in Lee County has led to an unknown amount of the fertilizer, mixed with rainwater, to enter a drainage ditch leading to a tributary of the Mississippi River, according to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources.
State regulators have revoked the license of a Dubuque pharmacy employee for the suspected theft of hundreds of pills.
HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. says feds looking for ways to fund faith-based recovery programs
Kennedy said Wednesday he supports finding new ways to provide federal funding for faith-based recovery programs as he visited Sheepgate, a Christian recovery and treatment program located in Colfax.
A federal judge on Wednesday denied a U.S. Department of Justice request that would have forced California to not count the ballots of 20,000 voters the Trump administration alleges are likely noncitizens.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security is unlawfully scrutinizing naturalized U.S. citizens and placing them at risk of disenfranchisement, civil rights groups alleged in a lawsuit Wednesday, less than a week before Election Day.
In the first three years after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the constitutional right to an abortion in June 2022, more than 900 women faced criminal charges for conduct related to their pregnancies, according to a new report.
Most of the nation returns to standard time Sunday morning, and Congress could decide as early as next month whether it will be the last time people have to change their clocks.
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