Oliver Weilein won a decisive victory in Tuesday’s primary election for the open Iowa City Council seat in District C. According to the results published by the Johnson County Auditor’s Office, Weilein received 641 votes, which represents 69 percent of the votes cast in District C.
Weilein will face second-place finisher Ross Nusser in the March 4 special election for the seat that opened when first-term councilmember Andrew Dunn resigned. Dunn announced his resignation in October, citing his growing “professional responsibilities with the labor movement.”
Nusser received 248 votes, 27 percent of the total cast.
Weilein and Nusser were the only two active candidates in the race. The primary was scheduled after a third candidate, Sharon DeGraw, qualified for the ballot just before the deadline. Two weeks later, DeGraw announced she was withdrawing from the race, but early voting was already underway, so the primary continued and DeGraw’s name remained on the ballot. She garnered 40 votes in the primary.
The auditor’s office reports that there were also three write-in votes cast.
Only District C residents could vote in the primary, and a total of 932 votes were cast. The district has 18,316 registered voters. All registered voters in Iowa City will be able to vote in the March 4 special election.
Early voting in the March 4 special election will begin on Wednesday, Feb. 12. Requests for mail-in absentee ballots must be received in the auditor’s office by 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 18.
