The Iowa City City Council appointed Andrew Dunn on Tuesday night to fill the vacancy left by former councilor Janice Weiner, who resigned in November following her victory in the Iowa Senate.

Dunn, a former Iowa House District 90 candidate who ran in the Democratic primary, was selected from a pool of seven finalists that were narrowed down by the council from a total pool of 21 applicants.

The council chose Dunn after three rounds of nominations from councilors. After at least four councilors nominated the same person, the council moved on to vote to approve the nominee. 

Councilor John Thomas’s motion to accept Dunn passed unanimously.

As a councilor, Dunn said he plans to address the issues of affordable housing, represent the requests of the younger citizens of Iowa City, and support the city’s five-year strategic plan that aims to make the city more inclusive and equitable. 

“To achieve these goals, I believe that collaborative leadership and partnership are the best way to go,” Dunn said at the meeting. “When leaders work together to achieve common goals and abstain from searching for limelight and recognition, we can achieve good, common sense solutions rooted in diverse community experiences.”

Dunn said his political experience started in 2012 when he volunteered for former U.S. President Barack Obama’s reelection campaign. He then served on three legislative advisory councils for youth, families, and juvenile criminal justice reform. 

“Within five years, I was elected to local Democratic leadership,” Dunn said. “And by 2018, I joined the gun violence prevention movement and began leading the major statewide nonprofit March for Our Lives Iowa.”

Dunn also assisted with the 2020 general election of U.S. Senators Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff, he said. 

More recently, Dunn worked with the American Civil Liberties Union to raise funds to support their efforts to end voter suppression. He also started his fourth session in the Iowa State Senate serving as a legislative aide for Sen. Claire Celsi, D-West Des Moines.  

“I’m confident that my experience with nonprofits and my experience with state government gives me enough experience to hit the ground running, familiarity with the concepts, and will allow me to really start immediately,” Dunn said.