Last night, after a long and controversial battle for a vacant seat on Iowa City’s City Council, candidate Oliver Weilein emerged victorious against running opponent Ross Nusser. Weilein was able to secure a large portion of younger voters, leading him to secure 60 percent of the vote. He also won the absentee vote.
Weilein won the special election with 4,141 votes compared to Nusser’s 2,736 votes. There was a total of 1,887 absentee votes cast in this election. Our Redeemer Lutheran Church was the polling place that saw the most voters. The resulting election now puts Weilein in a position to pursue policies he’s been campaigning on for months.
Abby Asell, a 21-year-old, third-year University of Iowa student, voted for Oliver Weilein due to rent and housing prices.
“The most important issue in my mind was affordable housing. I’ve heard from a lot of my peers that that is the big platform he’s running on,” Asell said. “People in my age group really care about this issue specifically.”
Graduate student Lillian Daneshmand, 23, voted for Oliver Weilein at the Iowa City Senior Center. She voted this way because she feels Weilein interacts with her peers more often.
“I’ve seen [Weilein] kinda out and about in the community and actually try to talk to us, whereas I haven’t seen any contact from Ross,” she said.
Bryce Moorman, 21, voted for Oliver Weilein due to tenant and housing concerns.
“I voted for Weilein because I feel like he cares more about tenant rights,” Moorman said.
Moorman also said he did not think Ross Nusser was running with the community’s best interest in mind.
“Ross just kind of seems like, you know, a realtor who is in it for his own pockets,” Moorman said.
Hunter Stevens, a fourth-year at the UI, 21, heard about Weilein’s policies from friends and decided to vote for him. He stated the housing crisis is important to him, and he feels like Weilein is more connected to the community.
“[Nusser’s] policies really didn’t speak to me,” Stevens said.
UI second-year Grant Anderson, 19, cast his vote at Catlett Hall for Oliver Weilein because he believes the now-elected councilor will support local unions and minority groups. As a former tenant union organizer, Anderson appreciates Weilein says he will fight to lower rent.
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“It seems like a lot of local community groups and mutual aid organizations seem to think that he kind of knows what he’s talking about when it comes to supporting unions and supporting minorities,” Anderson said. “I think that he has proven that he’s done a lot of really good work for the community in the past.”
Delaney Christianson, a Democrat and fourth-year UI student, voted for Ross Nusser.
“I specifically liked how Nusser talked about providing more support for the unhoused population, particularly the unhoused population who have chronic mental illnesses,” she said. “I really liked both candidates, to be honest with you. I think that they both had a lot of great ideas.”
This was not just an election important to the youth but to the community as a whole. Tom Carey, 57, of Iowa City voted for Ross Nusser because he said the Iowa City City Council special election comes at a time when many important issues are on the line.
“I feel like he’s philosophically coming from the same spot I do with those important issues and supports some of the important institutions that are around our city government,” Carey said.
Jonna Higgins-Freese, senior director of information technology at the UI’s CLAS, voted for Oliver Weilein, whom she described as the more progressive candidate. Higgins-Freese said Weilein’s stated opposition to ICE played a key role in her decision.
“I think he’ll have the best perspective on how not to militarize the police force and weaponize them against the immigrants who make our community work,” Higgins-Freese said.
59-year-old Eric Weidl, originally from Ohio and who now resides in Goosetown, shared that he needs to see change in the community. His family members are veterans, and he believes he must honor their service by voting. Weidl added that housing was an important policy because when he moved here, he struggled to find housing.
“Oliver is bringing fresh ideas to how Iowa City develops,” Weidl said.
Emma Jane, Genevieve DiChiara, Isobel Perez, Anna Mitchell, and Jacob Calvin contributed to this report.