Lyness wins Democratic primary for Johnson County attorney

IOWA CITY - Incumbent Janet Lyness on Tuesday fended off a challenger for the Democratic nomination for Johnson County attorney in one of the most intriguing local elections in recent memory.

Lyness, county attorney the past eight years, topped recent law school graduate John Zimmerman in the primary 5,086 votes to 2,280, according to preliminary results from the Johnson County Auditor's Office. Results are unofficial until the county supervisors canvass the votes June 10.

Lyness' win puts her in a strong position to be re-elected in November to another four-year term. She and Zimmerman were the only candidates, although people from other parties and independents can file candidacy papers in August for the general election.

'I think the people of Johnson County recognized that experience is important in this job” and that the county has implemented jail diversion programs, said Lyness, 55.

The campaign was an interesting one on multiple levels.

An incumbent Johnson County attorney had not faced a primary challenge since 1978, and there had been only one other contested primary in that time.

Also, Zimmerman proposed major changes to the office that prosecutes crimes and represents county government.

The 46-year-old, who became a licensed attorney in April, said that the criminal justice system is rife with bias and that he would screen out cases in which he thought race played a role in the arrest.

He also said he would not charge people arrested for possession of marijuana for personal use or for public intoxication.

'We raised attention to (those issues), but I do not see trend lines going in a positive direction,” Zimmerman said. 'This is a victory, in a lot of ways, of middle and upper class over people who are poor.”

He described his campaign as a 'quixotic quest” against a two-term incumbent.

'But in the end, it showed that the power of both her long roots in the area and her strong backing from the local establishments were way too much to overcome in the election,” he said.

A former pastor, Zimmerman said he plans to be a criminal defense lawyer representing low-income people. He said it's unlikely he'll run for office again.

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