Monticello native in center of Linn County election frenzy

CEDAR RAPIDS - Life is about to get very busy for Becky Stonawski, the deputy auditor for elections in Linn County.

Stonawski, 37, of Cedar Rapids, is in charge of overseeing 34 races with more than 75 candidates in 17 communities in Linn County this year. She relishes politics even as she stays apolitical.

'I do my job to not be political at all,” she said. 'My job is to work with the public. Really, it's to try to stay outside of the political side of it. I run elections, make sure everyone has a chance to vote, and enforce the laws, whatever those might be.”

Stonawski is a Monticello native who left Iowa to attend Yale University in New Haven, Conn. She completed her master's degree at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., and spent two years in the Peace Corps.

She returned to Iowa and completed a law degree and Ph.D. in educational administration at the University of Iowa.

After teaching political science for four years at Luther College in Decorah and a brief career in private law practice, she spotted a job opportunity with Linn County and thought it would be a good fit to combine her love of politics with public service. She took the post in January.

'I enjoy talking to people on both sides of the aisle, and I value people having the right to voice their opinion,” Stonawski said.

When she has a moment to breathe, Stonawski said she likes visiting parks - particularly the petting zoo at Bever Park - with her husband and three young children, aged 6 months, 2 and 4,

For the next several weeks, though, her hands will be full. The staff of five regular employees balloons to 300 during election season, she said.

They review petitions, test voting machines, run satellite voting sites, receive absentee ballots, communicate with candidates and program ballots, she said.

Early voting begins Monday, which also is the day petitions are due for satellite voting locations. Hiawatha Public Library will host one satellite voting site on Oct. 24, and one or two additional sites are expected, she said.

The season will extend past the Nov. 7 Election Day with the Cedar Rapids vote canvass on Nov. 9, then possible Cedar Rapids recounts, which must be requested by Nov. 10, the county vote canvass of remaining cities on Nov. 14, and possible recount requests for those due by Nov. 17.

If no candidate gets more than 50 percent of the vote in Cedar Rapids, the top two vote-getters square off in a runoff on Dec. 5, Stonawski said. That is most likely in the Cedar Rapids mayoral race featuring eight candidates, she said.

Stonawski said she anticipates lower turnout in smaller communities, but high turnout in Cedar Rapids given the big mayoral field.

'I'm expecting run offs in Cedar Rapids,” she said. 'I don't think there are clear leaders in the races, so I think we will see tight races.”

Politics has run in her family. Her uncle, Tod Bowman, is a state senator from Maquoketa. Her grandfather served in the state Senate and her great great grandfather, George Tabor, also served in the state Senate in the 1920s and 1930s. They served a guiding force in her career choice, she said.

'Right now I am just trying to make sure the elections run smoothly, but we will see what the future brings,” she said of her aspirations.

l Comments: (319) 339-3177; brian.morelli@thegazette.com