Newcomer, incumbent lead in Iowa City fundraising

IOWA CITY - Mazahir Salih, a community organizer running for an at-large seat on the Iowa City Council, leads all candidates in fundraising, with donations coming from a number of established political figures in the community.

Salih raised $14,500 in her quest for a City Council seat, according to reports filed with the Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board. The reports were due Thursday.

City elections are Nov. 7 throughout Iowa.

Donors to Salih's campaign included Johnson County Supervisors Rod Sullivan, Janelle Rettig, Kurt Friese and Mike Carberry, Johnson County Auditor Travis Weipert, Johnson County Attorney Janet Lyness and current city council member Rockne Cole.

'I'm really proud of the people who are supporting me. I'm very excited about it,” Salih said. 'With the money, we start reaching more people because that's what my goal is. My goal is to reach everybody in Iowa City.”

Salih said she thinks the donations from local officials stem from her work as a community organizer.

'I think they believe in me, that's why they donated,” Salih said, adding that she worked with the county in developing the Community ID program and on its efforts to increase the minimum wage.

Kingsley Botchway II, an at-large incumbent, reported $2,000 in donations.

The third candidate for the two at-large seats is Angela Winnike, the Iowa City Downtown District's nighttime mayor, who had not filed a report by 5 p.m. Thursday.

Candidates raising or spending less than $1,000 are not required to file reports.

For the District B council seat, current at-large council member Susan Mims reported raising close to $9,000, with donors that include local business owners and developers.

'I felt good,” Mims said. 'We got it from a wide variety of people. I think it shows an indication of the wide support across the community for my campaign.

'I try to look very pragmatically at our development, our economic development, and I understand the importance of increasing our tax base so that's not really surprising to me that I would have support from that (business) area.”

Mims' District B competitor, University of Iowa student Ryan Hall. reported raising just over $3,600.

CORALVILLE

In Coralville, with seven candidates vying for three open council seats, candidate Meghann Foster raised the most of any candidate, reporting just over $6,000 in donations.

Other candidates reported amounts under $1,000: Elizabeth Dinschel, $581; Cindy Riley, $303; and Miriam Timmer-Hackert, $293.

Updated financial reports from council incumbents Tom Gill and Laurie Goodrich and candidate Imad Yousiff were not on the database as of 5 p.m. Thursday.

Incumbent mayor John Lundell, who is running unopposed, did not raise money for a campaign.

l Comments: (319) 339-3172; maddy.arnold@thegazette.com