Good morning from Iowa Capital Dispatch.
“The president said it for a long time, and the Democrats were sitting there denying it and saying, ‘There’s no fraud. That wasn’t taking place. There’s no fraud. There’s nothing, nothing here. Don’t look over here.’ We’re realizing there’s actually a lot. And we believe that some of these states probably even knew about it, chose not to look into it. Well, we are.” — Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, on the federal indictment of 10 noncitizens who voted in Minnesota.
Iowa Auditor Rob Sand, the Democratic nominee for Iowa governor, asked the crowd to raise their hand if it was their first time attending a town hall event as he hosted his final stop on his 99 county town hall tour at the Val Air Ballroom in West Des Moines Sep. 30, 2026. (Photo by Robin Opsahl/Iowa Capital Dispatch)
As Iowa Auditor of State Rob Sand completed a 99-county tour for the second time in his gubernatorial campaign, he called for supporters to keep momentum up and bring “divided government once again” to Iowa.
More than 1,800 people attended the Democratic candidate’s event in West Des Moines, braving the rain and congested parking lots to attend. Polls and political forecasters show Sand leading Republican gubernatorial candidate Zach Lahn in the weeks ahead of the Nov. 3, 2026 election. While Sand told the crowd not to be complacent or assume he will win, he also said he was hopeful about the election outcome.
Audrey Robertson, assistant secretary of energy for the Office of Critical Mineral and Energy Innovation at the DOE announced funding for critical mineral mining research in Ames Sept. 30, 2026. (Photo by Cami Koons/Iowa Capital Dispatch)
Researchers at the Ames National Laboratory are part of a U.S. Department of Energy initiative, called Mine of the Future Initiative, aimed at boosting the nation’s supply chain for critical minerals which are currently held almost entirely by China.
Audrey Robertson, assistant secretary of energy for the Office of Critical Mineral and Energy Innovation, announced Wednesday at the Ames National Laboratory the DOE was awarding $29.5 million toward Mine of the Future Initiative projects.
Zach Lahn called a $15 billion steel mill project planned for Iowa a “once-in-a-lifetime project,” saying it will make a positive impact for generations to come, as he campaigned Wednesday on keeping young people in Iowa and securing the state’s future.
Three Des Moines police officers are being sued for the alleged excessive force used in the arrest of a man who sustained a broken jaw.
A former public defender from western Iowa has been sentenced to five months in prison for defrauding Medicaid and cancer patients.
Two behavioral health professionals from Iowa are currently facing disciplinary charges related to their relationships with patients.
A federal grand jury indicted 10 noncitizens for unlawfully voting in Minnesota, U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche said Wednesday, highlighting the administration’s effort to keep election security a top issue, in line with President Donald Trump’s longstanding unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud.
U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer indicated Wednesday that should Democrats regain control of the chamber following the elections, they plan to block judicial nominees sent up by President Donald Trump, including for any possible vacancies on the Supreme Court.
U.S. Senate Republicans did not gain any support Wednesday from Democrats as they attempted to advance a bill that mashed together two hot-button midterm issues: requiring voter ID in federal elections and limiting stock trading for members of Congress.
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