See who is on the ballot in the Johnson County area general elections

Ryan Hansen, Iowa City Press-Citizen
Updated ·4 min read

Election season is fast approaching, with yard signs popping up and candidates diving deep into their campaigns for office.

The local filing deadline has passed in Johnson County, clarifying who is seeking election across the various governments and school boards.

Incumbents are bolded. Candidates who currently hold a position in local government or on a school board but are running for another office are italicized.

Here’s all you need to know about the candidates in Johnson County:

Coralville

Mayor (One open seat, two-year term)

  • Meghann Foster

Meghann Foster will run unopposed for mayor. Foster was first elected as Coralville’s mayor in 2021 when she made history by becoming the first woman elected as Coralville's mayor.

City Council (Two open seats, four-year term)

  • Royce Peterson

  • Rich Vogelzang

There are two candidates for the two open Coralville City Council seats following longtime Councilor Mitch Gross announcement that he will not seek reelection. Keith Jones is also not seeking reelection after was appointed to the council in 2022 to fill a vacancy. The retired banker vowed not to run for the seat again once his time was up after 18 months.

North Liberty

Four candidates are vying for three positions on the North Liberty City Council. The slots were opened by the expiring terms of RaQuishia Harrington, Brent Smith and Ashley Bermel.

City Council (Three open seats, four-year term)

  • Brian Leibold

  • Mike Mbanza

  • Paul Park

  • Brent Smith

University Heights

Mayor (One open seat, two-year term)

  • Louise From

City Council (Five open seats, two-year term)

The five University Heights City Council members are all up for re-election, paving the way for seven candidates vying to fill five spots.

  • Stepheny Gahn

  • Nicholas Herbold

  • Liesa Moore

  • Timothy R. Schroeder

  • Bobby Scott

  • Mike Stuart

  • Doug Swailes

Solon

Mayor (One open seat, four-year term)

  • Steve Stange

  • Dan O’Neil

City Council — Two open seats, four-year term

  • John D. Farlinger

  • Andrew Kramer

The mayor’s race features the current mayor, Steve Stange, facing off against Solon councilmember Dan O’Neil. Solon’s mayor serves a four-year term.

School Board

  • Adam Haluska

  • Jami Wolf

Two school board candidates, including Solon School board Vice President Adam Haluska, filed for the two available seats. Wolf is seeking her second term. She was elected in 2019. Former University of Iowa basketball star Adam Haluska and his family have lived in Solon since 2011.

Clear Creek Amana School Board

Five seats are open on the Clear Creek Amana School Board, including two at-large seats and one seat for District Director in the three districts.

At-Large School Board (Two open seats, four-year term)

  • Abdouramane Bila

  • Joe Burns

  • Sarah Rivera

  • Gabe Schaapveld

Board Director, District 1 (One open seat, four-year term)

  • Allison Momany

  • April Schmitz

Board Director, District 2 (One open seat, two-year term)

  • Jennifer Downes

  • Patricia Higby

Board Director, District 3 (One open seat, four-year term)

  • Jennifer Bollers

Tiffin

Mayor

  • Steve Berner

  • Tim Kasparek

Tim Kasparek will challenge longtime Mayor Steve Berner in this year’s election. Berner seeks his seventh term as Tiffin’s mayor.

City Council

  • Thomas Gibson

  • Skylar Limkemann

  • Chris Olney

Three candidates will battle for two spots on the Tiffin City Council, with two of the candidates being returning council members.

West Branch

City Council (Three open seats, four-year term)

  • Thomas Dean

  • Colton Miller

  • Reggie Matthes

  • Jay Shultz

  • Jerry D. Sexton

  • Timothy Moss

  • Michael Horihan

School Board (Three open seats)

  • Julie Sexton

  • Keith Schultes

  • Lindsay Seydel

  • Peter S. Swisher

Local Option Sales and Service Tax

West Branch residents will also vote on a 1% local option sales and service tax that would take effect on July 1, 2025. Revenue from the sales tax would go toward park debt and improvements and public safety and infrastructure improvements in town. For this measure to take effect, 50% of voters in West Branch must vote yes to this tax.

Iowa City

Candidates for Iowa City's open council and school board elections can be found here.

All other candidates for city and school board elections in Johnson County can be found on the auditor's office website at https://www.johnsoncountyiowa.gov/november-7-2023-sample-ballots-list-candidates-and-ballot-issues.

Ryan Hansen covers local government and crime for the Press-Citizen. He can be reached at rhansen@press-citizen.com or on X, formerly known as Twitter, @ryanhansen01.

This article originally appeared on Iowa City Press-Citizen: Meet the candidates for Johnson County area school board and city elections