A crowd gathered at Kindred Coffee erupted in cheers as Oliver Weilein, a local activist and organizer, defeated property developer Ross Nusser for Iowa City City Council’s District C seat.

“We made a statement that working class people in Iowa City want a seat at the table, and they reject the status quo,” Weilein said. “This could be the beginning of a broader movement in Iowa City that could make extremely valuable change in our community.”

Weilein won the March 4 special election with 4,141 votes, totaling just over 60 percent, while his opponent, Ross Nusser, a property developer, received 2,736. In the Feb. 4 primary, Weilein had secured nearly 70 percent of the vote in District C.

Addressing the crowd, Weilein said this is a winning moment for Iowa City’s working class.

“Let’s have a good time and understand that landlords are not happy tonight,” Weilein said, met with spirited applause and cheers.

Attendees, including Johnson County Supervisor Mandi Remington and City Council Members Laura Bergus and Mayor pro-tem Mazahir Salih, expressed enthusiasm for Weilein, who ran his campaign as a working-class resident representing a wider breadth of Iowa City residents.

“One of the main things that I ran on in my campaign was that it had been far too long since we’ve had anybody at local leadership who really knew what it was like to struggle to make ends meet,” Remington said. “There’s still room for a much more representative number of those folks to be in our positions in leadership. And that’s something that Oliver brings that’s really important.”

Praising Weilein’s long-held advocacy for marginalized communities — including wage workers, immigrants, and LGBTQ individuals – Bergus said she thinks he will provide a perspective that the city council currently lacks and one that she said is much needed during President Donald Trump’s term.

“I think he’s fearless,” Bergus said of Weilein. “The ways in which he speaks truth to power and says really hard, sometimes unnervingly critical things.”

Bergus said she believes the time for politicians to prioritize civility while trusting government systems to sustain themselves is over. Instead, she said elected officials must now boldly challenge the status quo — a quality she sees in Weilein.

“We have to protect democracy,” Bergus said.

Smiling broadly and hugging Bergus and other attendees, Mayor Pro Tem Mazahir Salih said she looks forward to working with Weilein for the good of Iowa City.

“Seeing somebody who values the same thing I value come and work for the city council, that makes you excited,” Salih said. “And it’s exciting, also because this is really a grassroots movement.”

Attendee and supporter Harry Westergaard, a Democratic voter who described himself as disillusioned with the Democratic Party nationally, said Weilein brings a refreshing perspective as a working-class candidate focused on supporting the community rather than gaining personal power.

“It’s the most excited I’ve been about a candidate in some time,” Westergaard said.

A longtime housing advocate and community organizer in Iowa City, Weilein is known for his work with the Iowa City Tenants Union and other grassroots initiatives. He received 22 endorsements, including support from current City Council members Bergus and Salih, Johnson County Supervisors Jon Green and Remington, three local workers unions, local business owners, and others.

Attendee Sam Rodgers said she moved to Iowa City from Ottumwa for the city’s art and music scene, and values the community of like-minded individuals she found here.

“Just an open-mindedness and a certain class of non-business people, I feel really represents our community,” Rodgers said. “That’s why I wanted to move here, and I think Oliver represents all of the reasons that I wanted to move here.”

Weilein’s victory came after a low-cost campaign in which he declined to solicit public donations or include a donation mechanism on his website — raising a total of $1,849. Current City Council members Laura Bergus and Mazahir Salih each donated $100 to Weilein’s campaign.

Nusser, who did solicit public donations through his website, raised just shy of $12,500, with current City Council member Josh Moe, Johnson County Supervisor Rod Sullivan, and Johnson County attorney Rachel Zimmerman Smith each contributing $100.

Nusser, local property developer, co-owner of Urban Acres Real Estate, and nonprofit advocate named affordable housing and mental health care as his main campaign objectives. 

Nusser ran on his Iowa City heritage, as a fifth-generation Iowa City resident; his campaign touted him as the best candidate to continue helping fellow Iowa Citians. 

“My combination of experience with government and nonprofits and my desire to serve my community, this is a natural extension,” Nusser said in a previous interview. 

After the final results were posted, Weilein addressed the crowd at Kindred Coffee, thanking supporters and reaffirming his commitment to bringing a working-class perspective to City Hall.

“This is what Martin Luther King Jr. called good tension,” Weilein said. “The tension that happens when the people in power and the ruling class get f*cking scared.”

He emphasized that this moment of victory demonstrates the power of grassroots organizing.

“We can’t wait for Democrats to save us,” Weilein said. “We don’t need permission from Democrats or anybody in government to improve your community.”

Path to Victory

Weilein’s election win follows a heated campaign, with both candidates facing scrutiny. 

In a letter to the editor sent to The Daily Iowan, former Iowa City Mayor Matt Hayek condemned Weilein’s candidacy, citing social media posts displaying weapons, endorsing property destruction as protest, and promoting anti-police sentiments.

Weilein’s ownership of an AR-15 rifle, which he says he bought for self-defense after receiving threats from far-right groups, has also been a point of controversy, particularly due to two social media posts featuring the weapon. 

At a Feb. 10 meeting of the gun safety advocacy group Moms Demand Action, Nusser argued that Weilein’s decision to post images of his AR-15 online made him unfit for public office. In response, Weilein reaffirmed his stance, condemning both violence and gun culture while reiterating that he owns the rifle for protection.

Remington said as someone who has seen firsthand Weilein’s commitment to the community, she believes the criticisms made against him are either misunderstandings or intentional, politically-motivated mischaracterizations.

“Oliver has been a person who has made me feel safe organizing rallies,” Remington said. “He’s been somebody that has deescalated situations and helped make sure that we don’t have problems at protests and rallies when people come in trying to create problems.”

Westergaard agreed that the criticisms of Weilein, especially from high-profile local figures, runs counter to Weilein’s history of community activism.

“I’m disgusted that so many people who have power in this community to advocate for change have been using this election to tear down and smear a candidate who has popular support,” Westergaard said.

Endorsements also stirred controversy, the most recent tension rising over an email sent by Mary Kate Pilcher Hayek, the wife of Hayek, to Temple Hiatt, a Moms Demand Action volunteer. The email urged Hiatt to withdraw her endorsement of Weilein, which Hiatt had issued following the Feb. 10 meeting.

In the email, which was obtained through a public records request by “Rock Hard Caucus” host Justin K. Comer and made public the day before the election, Pilcher Hayek claimed that Hiatt’s endorsement of Weilein compromised the integrity of Moms Demand Action as a group. She also copied the Johnson County Attorney Rachel Zimmermann Smith and Sheriff Brad Kunkel on the message.

Hiatt did not rescind her endorsement.

Nusser also faced allegations, shared in two Iowa City subreddit posts the week before the election, accusing him of acting aggressively toward service workers on two separate occasions before his City Council campaign. 

Additionally, Nicole Yeager, a member of the Campaign to Organize Graduate Students, or COGS, raised concerns over text messages allegedly sent by landlords to COGS members, urging them to vote for Nusser.

In a subsequent interview on KRUI, Nusser denied the allegations about his treatment of service workers and said he was unaware of Pilcher Hayek’s email or any texts sent by landlords.

Additionally, the DI revealed during the campaign that Nusser had previously faced financial troubles, including undisclosed debt totaling more than $75,000. He attributed the debt to his struggles with substance use disorder at the time.

Nusser was not immediately available to provide comment.

Genevieve DiChiara contributed to this report.