Corridor candidates want your vote, but some have spotty participation in municipal elections

CEDAR RAPIDS - They want your vote, but a handful of Corridor mayoral and city council candidates have rarely if ever voted in municipal elections.

Of the 37 candidates running in the area's largest cities - Cedar Rapids, Marion, Iowa City and Coralville - half had sterling voting histories, or voted in municipal elections at least 85 percent of the time since 2005. At the other extreme, six candidates hadn't voted in a municipal election since 2005, according to voter profiles from the auditors offices in Linn and Johnson counties.

'Typically, I would think people who run for office in local elections would have a higher percentage of voting than the average citizen,” said Jeff Schott, director of the Institute of Public Affairs at University of Iowa.

Each of the four cities have a spectrum of voting records from frequent to spotty, but how much that matters is really up to the voter, Schott said. He personally doesn't put much stock in voting habits

'It's one factor to look into, but it would not be a prime factor for me,” he said. 'I'm concerned about what their priorities are for the community and where they stand on different issues.”

Schott noted older residents traditionally have better voting records than their younger counterparts, and that holds true among the candidates in several of the Corridor races.

While some candidates did not regularly vote in municipal elections, many have participated in general elections and other local races. Among the frequent voters, they also had lengthy voter histories outside municipal elections.

The voter profiles examined by The Gazette only show whether a person has voted, but not how they voted.

Cedar Rapids

Mayoral candidates Jorel Robinson, 30, and Lemi Tilahun, 27, have never cast a vote in a city election. Robinson would have been old enough to vote in 2005, and Tilahun would have reached voting age in 2008. Tilahun was living abroad and in Washington, D.C., in 2013 and 2015, and while he could have requested an absentee ballot, he was not up on the local issues, he said.

Robinson said lack of participation, himself included, is why he is running for office.

'Just like most of America, if you look at city polls, in general less than 15 percent of people show up and that is what my campaign is all about,” Robinson said. 'We need to make time for this process ... It's something that needs to change.”

In District 5, Ashley Vanorny, 32, and Keith Wiggins, 34, haven't voted in a municipal election in the past decade. Wiggins only has voted in the 2008 general election, while Vanorny has voted in a handful of federal, school and county elections.

'The reason I haven't been voting is just the background of what has gone on in my life in the last decade,” Vanorny said. 'When I have to personally be a caretaker for someone's health for the last decade that is what comes first.”

Wiggins said, 'Reasons for not voting in previous municipal elections is because I was either traveling in the wind industry for work, in the military and most importantly, the fact that no other candidate has opposed Justin Shields in an election.”

Mayoral candidate Rev. Tim Pridegon, 61, has voted in three of 14 municipal elections since 2005, which include regular city elections, runoffs, the 2013 gambling referendum, the 2012, 2011 and 2009 local-option sales tax votes, and the 2005 change of government referendum.

'It is important, but in the last 10 years it is something that just has fallen off the radar,” Pridegon said. 'It is something that is a concern of mine. Although not on the very top of the list.”

Rev. Damian Miguel Epps, 45, in the at-large race, has voted once since moving to the area in 2008.

'Only in the last few years I've gotten engaged beyond the presidential election, but my absence in municipal elections doesn't speak to my stewardship in the community. I've been very involved,” Epps said.

Kris Gulick, Brad Hart, Scott Olson, and Monica Vernon in the mayoral race; Lisa Kuzela in the at-large race; Dale Todd in District 3; and Justin Shields in District 5 have voted in every municipal election since 2005.

Gary Hinzman in the mayoral race and Tyler Olson in the at-large race have missed only one municipal vote since 2005.

Marion

Peter Johnson in Ward 2 and Randy Strnad in the at-large race have voted in just three of 10 municipal elections since 2005, according to data from the Linn County Auditor's Office.

Steve Jensen, a Ward 2 candidate, and Rene Gadelha, who is running unopposed in Ward 4, have perfect voting records since 2005. Gadelha's local voting history began when she moved to the area in 2012.

Bruce Cummins, in the at-large race, has voted in six of eight elections since moving to Marion in 2008.

Iowa City

District B council candidate and current at-large member Susan Mims, 60, has the longest city election voting record of those running for a seat. She has voted in every city election and primary since 2005.

Mims' competitor for the District B seat, Ryan Hall, a 24-year-old University of Iowa student, just moved to the area in January and has yet to vote in a municipal election.

'Part of the reason why I'm getting involved is to encourage more people to vote at the local level,” Hall said.

Kingsley Botchway II, 32, is an incumbent running for one of two at-large seats on the council. He voted in the previous two municipal elections after registering to vote in 2008. Similarly, at-large candidate and community organizer Mazahir Salih voted in the 2015 and 2013 city elections, after registering in the county in 2012.

The third candidate for the two at-large seats, Nighttime Mayor Angela Winnike, 35, registered to vote in 2000 but has yet to cast a ballot in a municipal election, according to the Johnson County Auditor's Office.

Coralville

In Coralville, voters must choose three council members from a field of seven. Among them is longtime council member Tom Gill, 71, who has voted in every municipal election since 2005 - seven total, including a 2005 library bond vote.

Incumbent Laurie Goodrich, 62, and candidate Meghann Foster, 42, voted in five and six of those elections, respectively. Candidate Miriam Timmer-Hackert, 37, has voted in three municipal elections since 2005, according to voter records.

Imad Youssif, 52, hasn't voted in a city election since registering with Johnson County in 2010.

Elizabeth Dinschel, 36, and Cindy Riley, 56, both registered in Johnson County in 2014.

Riley voted in the highly contested 12-candidate city election in 2015, but Dinschel did not.

'I was new and still kind of figuring stuff out since I had recently moved here,” Dinschel said. 'I was trying to get my own bearings just moving here.”

John Lundell, the unopposed incumbent for mayor, has voted in every municipal election since 2005.

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