Amie here. This better not be how winter’s gonna be this year, I tell you what!

Photo of me trying to go grocery shopping this weekend.

I’ve got candidates, protests, news, and a viral post to start your week.

Special election today: Tuesday, Dec. 9, is the special election date to replace Rep. Mike Sexton, a Republican from Rockwell City who resigned in September to become director for Iowa’s US Department of Agriculture Rural Development office.

Two women—Rachel Burns, a Democrat, and Wendy Larson, a Republican, both from Odebolt—are in the running to replace him. If you’re in Iowa House District 7 (Calhoun, Pocahontas, Sac, western Webster counties), vote from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Flu, or ‘stomach flu’? ‘Tis the season where everyone has “the flu.” But if you’ve got stomach issues, it’s likely norovirus, or what you may have heard called the “stomach flu.” Like regular influenza, norovirus also comes around this time of year—and is spread more quickly. But there are big differences between the two.

Major penny shortage: Do you use cash, and have you noticed any stores around Iowa reporting shortages or rounding up? Reply and tell me.

Check out the Satanic Temple event that was banned from the Iowa Capitol Sunday at xBk Live in Des Moines.

Meet a candidate:

US Senate candidate Nathan Sage:

• 10:30 a.m. Saturday (canvass launch for Renee Hardman), West Des Moines

US Senate candidate Josh Turek: 

• 5:30 p.m. today, Council Bluffs Community School Board Meeting, 300 West Broadway, Suite 1600, Council Bluffs
• 6 p.m. Saturday, West Des Moines Democrats Holiday Potluck and Monthly Meeting, St. Mark Lutheran Church, West Des Moines

Iowa Attorney General candidate Nate Willems:

• 6:30 p.m. today (via Zoom), Waukon

Iowa House District 71 candidate DeLano Cain-Watson:

• 7 p.m. Friday, Dubuque

Protests and rallies:

Public Retirement Systems Committee meeting: 9 a.m. today, Iowa State Capitol

Banner Drop!: noon today, West Branch

#FreedomToLive Nationwide Vigils/Events to #EndGunViolence: 3 p.m. today, Dubuque

4 Corners Weekly Peaceful Protest: 4:30 p.m. Thursdays, near the Casey’s/Methodist Church in Panora

Vigil for Immigrant Rights: noon-12:30 p.m. Fridays, Waterloo Post Office

Weekly Jefferson Protest: noon-1 p.m. Fridays, Jefferson Square, Jefferson

FED UP Fridays: 2-4 p.m. Fridays, Des Moines

Food and Water Action Team – Holiday Happy Hour: 5 p.m. Friday, Iowa City

Community Rally for Democracy: 10 a.m. Saturdays, NE corner of Hickman and Alice’s Road, Waukee

Weekly Rally in the Wayside Park: noon Saturdays, Decorah

Weekly Perry Protest: noon-1 p.m. Saturdays, First and Willis by the bicycle sculpture, Perry

No ICE, No KKK, No Fascist USA: 11 a.m. Sunday, Davenport

Henry County First Amendment Rally: noon-1 p.m. Sundays, front of the courthouse, Mount Pleasant

Food and Water Action Volunteer Kickoff: 6 p.m. Monday, Davenport

Events are sourced from mobilize.us and emailed submissions; submit an event here.

UnityPoint nurses are participating in Iowa’s largest private sector union vote in history through tomorrow.

Read more about the historic vote here, or watch nurses tell it in their own words on:

• TikTok
• Instagram
• Facebook
• YouTube

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