Over 130 Storm Lake Residents March in Peaceful No Kings Protest

Fifty-mile-per-hour gusts whipped Storm Lake's water across Lakeshore Drive and likely held the crowd below what organizers had hoped for, but more than 130 people still completed the roughly half-mile No Kings march on Saturday afternoon, walking from King's Pointe through Awaysis Park before crossing Lakeshore Drive to Radio Park.

Carol Peterson was among the marchers in a crowd that reporters described as an eclectic cross-section of Buena Vista County: young families, senior citizens, veterans, teachers, farmers and business owners, many carrying signs critical of President Donald Trump's policies and conduct. Ashley Wolf-Tornabane, a Democratic candidate for Congress in Iowa's Fourth Congressional District, and Mike Frantz, a Storm Lake resident running for a state senate seat, both walked with the group and used the two-hour gathering as an informal civic forum outside a traditional campaign setting.

Participants cited concerns about democratic norms, civil liberties and the direction of federal policy. The reception along the route was largely supportive: passing motorists offered thumbs-up gestures and honked in solidarity, with only a handful of negative reactions recorded from drivers.

For a county the size of Buena Vista, a turnout of 130-plus carries weight. A Des Moines political reporter estimated that roughly 30,000 Iowans marched across approximately 50 communities on the same day, with the largest crowds concentrating at the state capitol and other regional centers. Nationally, organizers put total attendance at roughly eight million people across 3,300 locations.

Saturday's march was the third wave of No Kings demonstrations, following earlier national events in June 2025 and October 2025. Storm Lake participated in those earlier rounds as well, and the steady growth in national attendance, from five million at the first wave to nearly seven million at the second, suggests the organizing network has continued deepening its reach into smaller Iowa communities. The fact that two Buena Vista County-area candidates treated Saturday's march as a constituent engagement opportunity underscores how thoroughly the protests have moved from spectacle to civic infrastructure.