Iowa City City Councilor Janice Weiner announced she will resign from the council effective on Dec. 31 following her victory in the Iowa State Senate District 45 election.

Weiner submitted her resignation to the council on Nov. 9, the day after her victory in the midterm elections, according to the council agenda for Tuesday’s meeting. One year of Weiner’s four-year term remains.

In the Nov. 8 midterm elections, Weiner beat Republican opponent Harold Weilbrenner, receiving 20,252 votes as opposed to 4,427 votes for Weilbrenner.

Weiner’s campaign focused on the issues of funding for public education, raising the minimum wage, restoring local government power, and women’s reproductive rights.

During her time as councilor for Iowa City, Weiner advocated for affordable housing in Iowa City, environmentally friendly city policies, and gun control.

Weiner said leaving the city council is bittersweet, but she feels her time as a councilor has given her valuable experience that will help her in her new role as state senator.

“I’m very grateful to have had this opportunity to serve and essentially, I plan to continue to serve,” Weiner said in an interview with The Daily Iowan. “The work that I’ve done here will definitely inform what I do for my constituents in Des Moines.”

Iowa City Mayor Pro Tem Megan Alter told the DI that Weiner has positively impacted the council throughout her term.

“She’s going to be amazing there, but it is definitely a loss for us,” Alter said. “She’s incredibly thoughtful and brings so much to council considerations, so that’s going to be hard to see her go, but she’s going to the right spot.”

While her term as state senator doesn’t officially begin until Jan. 2, 2023, Weiner said there are still some preliminary steps she has to take to transition into her new role.

“The first caucus meeting in Des Moines is Friday afternoon, so I will find out what the procedures are when we get sworn in and what issues we’re gonna focus on,” Weiner said. “We know there are challenges that we’ll be facing as part of the Democratic caucus.”

Weiner said while she’ll be preparing for the Iowa State Senate, she will still continue to focus her efforts on her role as a city councilor before her term officially ends.

“Between now and then, the City of Iowa City is going to decide what its legislative priorities are,” Weiner said. “I’m gonna spend a lot of time talking to people in the city and the county and so forth about what the priorities are, even as we look at Des Moines and what we think is coming our way.”

At Tuesday’s city council meeting, the city council will vote on whether to fill Weiner’s position by a scheduled public special election or by appointing a replacement themselves.