Three Coralville City Council seats filled in at-large election

The three Coralville City Council seats were filled by Laurie Goodrich, Hai Huynh, and Mike Knudson on Tuesday night.

From+left+Coralville+City+Councilor+Hai+Huynh%2C+City+Coucilor+elect+Mike+Knudson%2C+and+City+Councilor+Laurie+Goodrich.

From left Coralville City Councilor Hai Huynh, City Coucilor elect Mike Knudson, and City Councilor Laurie Goodrich.

Lauren White, Politics Reporter


Laurie Goodrich, Hai Huynh, and Mike Knudson won the three open seats in the Coralville City Council election on Tuesday night.

According to the unofficial election night results, Huynh received the most votes with 1,591. Goodrich snagged the seat with 1,406 votes and Knudson won with 1,251.

There were four candidates in the race running for three seats. Cindy Riley did not get elected to the city council.

Goodrich is the senior director of athletes of Action at Iowa and will be serving her third term on the council. Her top priorities for the city are public safety, strong infrastructure, economic growth, and community development.

Goodrich said that she is looking forward to the future and to work with newly elected mayor, Meghann Foster.

“I know we will be innovative and fair-minded, which isn’t very different from before,” Goodrich said. “I plan to continue to show up and be available to listen, and I plan to represent all four of them. I’ve always wanted to be a fair-minded representative of Coralville.”

Huynh works as a Community Projects Coordinator with Coralville Food Pantry and first picked up her seat in a special election in September 2020 when there was a vacancy. She was the first Vietnamese-American to serve in any elected position in Iowa.

Huynh said she is more prepared for this term than her last one because she had more time to campaign and speak to more members of the community.

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The council member’s top priorities for the city are COVID-19 recovery, affordable housing, and advancing racial and economic justice.

“Listening is the most important thing. Sometimes I think we ought to swift to offer our opinion, and we forget to listen,” Huynh said. “So I have learned that when you stop and listen, you learn a lot more.”

Knudson will be serving his first term on the Coralville City Council. He is the medical director of the DeGowin Blood Bank and Donor Center at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics.

The new-elect said he feels prepared for this role because over the past two months, he has talked to almost all of the city leaders to find out what challenges they face.

The goals that Knudson wants to prioritize during his term, he said, are developing more of the city, addressing infrastructure challenges, and expanding on Coralville recycling programs.

“I’ve learned that there’s a lot of very good people working for the city. We should listen to them and work with them to continue to make Coralville better,” Knudson said.

Goodrich, Huynh, and Knudson will begin their four-year terms on Jan. 1, 2022.