116 3rd St SE
Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401
Cedar Rapids City Council incumbents sweep the board in Tuesday election
Five Cedar Rapids City Council members — including the mayor — have retained their seats for another term.
Nov. 4, 2025 10:52 pm
The Gazette offers audio versions of articles using Instaread. Some words may be mispronounced.
CEDAR RAPIDS — All five incumbents running for Cedar Rapids City Council this year retained their seats in Tuesday’s municipal election.
O’Donnell secures second term
Women Lead Change CEO Tiffany O’Donnell handily secured a second four-year term as Cedar Rapids mayor on Tuesday.
O’Donnell staved off challenger Myra Bradwell, a three-time Cedar Rapids mayoral candidate. O’Donnell secured 76.9 percent of the vote, per preliminary results from the Linn County Auditor’s Office. Bradwell received 21.6.
Results are considered unofficial until they are certified by county and state boards of canvass.
“This win isn’t just mine. It’s ours,” O’Donnell wrote to voters in a social media post after her win. “There’s never been a more exciting moment to be part of this city’s story. Let’s grab a hold of it, side by side, and continue building the Cedar Rapids we know we can be.”
O’Donnell, 56, campaigned on a platform of promoting smart growth, housing and quality of place. She has also centered the need to complete the city’s flood control system, grow area workforce and invest in additional neighborhood services.
O’Donnell currently serves as chief executive officer at Women Lead Change, a nonprofit supporting the development, advancement and promotion of women and women-led organizations. She previously was a news anchor for CBS2/FOX 28 and a NewBo City Market founding board member.
District 1’s Hoeger staves off challenger
In the only other contested Cedar Rapids City Council race, District 1 incumbent Marty Hoeger, 53, bested challenger Sam Wilson to retain his seat representing much of Cedar Rapids’ northeast quadrant.
Hoeger received 61.4 percent of the overall vote to Wilson’s 37.9 percent. The win secures Hoeger his third consecutive City Council term.
Owner of building materials supplier Ogden & Adams, Hoeger’s top issues while campaigning included addressing homelessness, increasing affordable housing options for Cedar Rapids residents, supporting improvements to the city’s flood control system and promoting economic growth. He was not immediately available for comment Tuesday evening.
Wilson, a 35-year-old nonprofit partnership coordinator with the Utility Arborist Association, ran a campaign focused on improving health and housing stability, cultivating safe communities and promoting best practices for animal welfare at the municipal level.
Easy win for uncontested incumbents
Also Tuesday, three additional Cedar Rapids City Council incumbents retained their seats after appearing unchallenged on the ballot. Those candidates included at-large representative Tyler Olson, District 3 representative Dale Todd and District 5 incumbent Ashley Vanorny.
Olson, CEO of Paulson Electric and president of SiteGen Solar, received 16,828 votes. Given his at-large capacity, Olson represents the entire city rather than a specific ward or district.
Todd received 3,365 votes and will continue representing downtown Cedar Rapids and much of the southeast quadrant. This will be his third term representing the district.
Vanorny, a health care administrator, rounded out the municipal ballot and received 1,993 votes in Tuesday’s election. She represents a large swath of southwest Cedar Rapids and was first elected in 2017.
Comments: grace.nieland@thegazette.com
Daily Newsletters