League of Women Voters of Johnson County hosting candidate forums ahead of Nov. 8 election

IOWA CITY — The League of Women Voters of Johnson County will host various candidate forums next month ahead of the Nov. 8 general election.

The forums will be held in person and streamed on the league’s Facebook page and website (lwvjc.org), as well as on City Channel 4 YouTube channel.

Rebroadcasts of the forums will be offered on City Channel 4 on Mediacom cable, as well as on its website at citychannel4.com.

In-person early voting begins Oct. 19.

Senate District 46 and House District 93

Candidates running for Senate District 46 and House District 92 will discuss their campaigns during a forum at 7 p.m. Oct. 4 in the Hills Community Center, 110 Main St. in Hills.

Iowa Sen. Kevin Kinney, an Oxford Democrat, is running for re-election against Sen. Dawn Driscoll, a Republican from Williamsburg. The two are running in the same district after the decennial redrawing of Iowa’s political boundaries.

Kinney was elected to a second term in 2018. Driscoll is serving her first term.

Democrat Eileen Beran of Kalona and Republican Heather Hora of Washington are seeking their first term for Iowa House District 92, covering parts of Johnson and Washington counties.

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds endorsed Hora for her support of the governor’s proposed legislation that would create taxpayer-funded scholarships to pay for private school tuition, otherwise known as the school voucher program. The bill failed to pass the Iowa House before the end of the legislative session after a large number of House Republicans opposed the proposal.

Beran was chosen to run by a special nominating convention of Democrats in early August, after Democrat Ty Bopp of Riverside ran uncontested for the primary but dropped out just prior to the election, leaving the nomination open.

House District 89 and Senate District 45

Candidates running for House District 89 and Senate District 45 will discuss their campaigns during a forum at 6 p.m. Oct. 11 at The Center, 28 S. Linn St., Iowa City.

Iowa City Democrat Elinor Levin and Iowa City Republican Jacob Onken are seeking their first term for Iowa House District 89. The district covers southern Iowa City and University Heights.

Levin won her primary against Tony Currin in June. Onken was chosen to run by a special nominating convention of Republicans in early July.

Iowa City Council member Janice Weiner, a Democrat, and Iowa City Republican Harold Weilbrenner are seeking their first term for Iowa Senate District 45.

The heavily-Democratic district includes Iowa City and University Heights, and has been represented for the past 24 years by Sen. Joe Bolkcom, a Democrat from Iowa City, who will be retiring from the Iowa Senate.

Weiner won her primary against John Raley in June, and had no Republican challenger at the time. Weilbrenner was nominated at a party convention to fill the ballot vacancy.

Board of Supervisors

Candidates running for the Johnson County Board of Supervisors will discuss their campaigns during a forum at 7 p.m. Oct. 11 at The Center, 28 S. Linn St., Iowa City.

Five candidates are seeking two four-year seats on the board: Republicans Jammie Bradshaw and Phil Hemingway; Democrats V. Fixmer-Oraiz and Jon Green; and no-party candidate Eric Heick.

Green was elected to the county board in June 2021 in a special election to fill the seat vacated by former supervisor Janelle Rettig.

House District 85

Candidates running for House District 85 will discuss their campaigns at 7 p.m. Oct. 13 at the North Liberty City Hall, 3 Quail Creek Circle.

Democratic incumbent state Rep. Amy Nielsen is running for re-election to a fourth term against Republican Wayne Grell and Libertarian candidate Jacob Wenck, all of North Liberty.

Grell, a first-time candidate, was nominated at a party convention in July to fill the ballot vacancy.

The district includes Solon, North Liberty and parts of northeastern Johnson County.

The forum will be livestreamed by North Liberty Television on the League’s Facebook page and website and NL Cable Channel 5. Rebroadcasts of the forum will be offered on cable and available on-demand on northlibertyiowa.org and archived at vimeo.com/northliberty.

More information about each candidate can be found at VOTE411.org.

The League of Women Voters Johnson County is a nonpartisan political organization founded in 1920 and dedicated to keeping an informed electorate through advocacy and community events.

Comments: (319) 398-8499; tom.barton@thegazette.com