Local elections in Iowa could become partisan under proposed bill

DES MOINES — Candidates for city and school board elections would appear on the ballot with party labels under a bill Iowa Republican lawmakers advanced out of a subcommittee on Tuesday.

Supporters said the change would reflect the reality of the traditionally nonpartisan races, which have seen increased attention and money from local political parties and statewide partisan organizations in recent years.

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“Specifically in the last election, I think we saw a lot of party affiliated people get involved in a space that we’ve not seen them get involved in,” said Rep. Brooke Boden, R-Indianola, who led the subcommittee meeting. “... And so when you begin down this pathway, we need to have a conversation. Is this the direction we’re going?”

Boden and Rep. Dan Gehlbach, R-Urbandale, voted to advance the bill — House Study Bill 633 — out of the subcommittee. Democratic Rep. Heather Matson, D-Ankeny, voted against it. The bill, which was proposed by House Education Committee Chair Skyler Wheeler of Hull, is now eligible for consideration in the full committee.

Candidates for school and city elections currently run without any party label on the ballot. Still, local elections, especially for school boards, have become increasingly partisan in recent years, as disagreements over school curriculum, LGBTQ issues and COVID-19 measures have brought increased attention onto the local boards.

Groups like One Iowa, Moms for Liberty and the Family Leader got involved in school board races last year. Liberal candidates largely won over conservatives in that election’s contested races.

Under the bill, candidates for city and school board offices would be nominated via a primary election, and all other methods of nominating candidates for those offices would be removed.

The primary election would be held on the first Tuesday in October before the November election when city and school offices are up for election. Candidates would need to gather between 10 and 100 signatures from voters, depending on the office, to appear on the primary ballot.

The cost of conducting the primary election would be paid by the city or school district.

Opponents: Bill too costly, unnecessary

Opponents of the bill said it would inject partisanship into offices that don’t often deal with political issues. They also said it would be an unnecessary cost for school districts and cities, which often have uncontested races for open seats.

Steve Richardson, an Indianola City Council member, told lawmakers during the subcommittee meeting he did not understand what problem the bill was intended to address.

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“I understand in some of the previous elections here recently that there’s been some partisan activity from different groups and things like that,” he said. “But that’s happened, frankly, for a long time, and it’s nothing new to the process.”

Lobbyists representing city and school board groups said smaller districts often have difficulty recruiting candidates to run for office. Requiring cities and school districts to conduct and pay for a separate primary election would add to those difficulties, they said.

“I would prefer that we not have to spend money on an election that could be spent on a teacher instead, or a program that is really important for students,” said Margaret Buckton, a lobbyist for the Urban Education Network and Rural School Advocates of Iowa.

Matson, who voted against the bill, said the issues that local officials deal with are not partisan. At forums for school board candidates in her community, she said, candidates talked about the specific issues facing students and teachers rather than partisan issues.

“Whether it is curriculum and standards, or making sure that buildings have great security, those are the issues that are dealt with at the school board level,” she said. “ … I don’t think it helps anybody, or any Iowan, for that matter, to unnecessarily enforce partisanship.”

Supporters say bill will increase transparency, boost turnout

Some supporters of the bill said it would give voters more information about candidates in local races and allow them to make more informed decisions. They also said they believed it would increase turnout as voters would feel more confident making decisions on who to support.

Research has shown that a lack of party affiliation on the ballot leads to lower turnout in local elections and incumbents have a larger advantage in nonpartisan elections. Voters are also more likely to skip nonpartisan races on ballots that have a mixture of partisan and nonpartisan races.

Andy Conlin, a lobbyist for the conservative think tank Opportunity Solutions Project, said it can often be hard to find out where school board candidates stand on issues without seeking out and speaking to them one-on-one.

“I don’t have the time to sit down with every school board candidate that’s going to be in charge of our district,” he said. “This is a marker, this is a signal to low-information voters. Hey, generally speaking, this is what they generally believe in.”