Grant Harper announces re-election bid for Marion City Council

MARION — Marion City Council member Grant Harper has announced his intent to run for re-election.

Harper, 71, announced his re-election bid at the conclusion of Thursday’s Marion City Council meeting. He will run to once again represent Ward 2, which covers much of north central Marion.

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Thus far, Harper is the first city council candidate in Marion to formally announce intent to run in the Nov. 4 city election.

“We have too much work to do, and I would certainly like to take the lessons that I’ve gained working (with other council members) to those various issues,” he said. “I do think there’s importance for a continuity of government.”

Harper was first appointed to the city council in 2020 to fill an at-large vacancy. Due to ward boundary line changes related to the 2020 census, he later ran for and was elected to serve as the Ward 2 representative in 2023.

Harper moved to Marion from the Twin Cities in 1979. Now retired, his professional background includes teaching science and coaching at Linn-Mar and various positions at Iowa Electric (now Alliant Energy) and Pearson Education.

He said that working background has helped him take a “research mentality” to his work on the city council and the wherewithal to dig into the more technical aspects of the role.

Rather than running to push for one certain cause or project, Harper said he hopes to continue his efforts to address the wide-reaching interests and concerns of all Marion citizens.

“You cannot come into a municipal government role … and only have one concern,” he said. “You have to give equal treatment to the variety of issues that can confront the municipality and the residents, and that’s a challenge that I find satisfying and one reason why I have decided to run again.”

Download: Marion Council Wards.pdf

The seven-member council consists of a mayor, four ward seats and two at-large seats. In addition to the Ward 2 seat, two additional Marion City Council seats will appear on the November ballot.

Council member Randy Strnad last month announced that he would not be seeking re-election, leaving his at-large seat up for grabs. Ward 4 Council member Sara Mentzer is also up for re-election, although she has not yet made a public announcement as to a possible re-election bid.

The first day to file nomination papers to run for city council this fall is Monday, Aug. 25. Nomination forms are due to the county auditor’s office by 5 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 18. Find more information about running for city office on the Iowa Secretary of State’s website, sos.iowa.gov/elections-voting.

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