The City of West Des Moines has ended its use of runoff elections and opted for a model where the highest vote-getter will always win, making runoffs unnecessary.
West Des Moines City Council unanimously voted Monday, July 6 to make the change. For voters, had the change been in effect a few months ago, it would have meant one less election in an unusually long string of them. And for the city, one less local election means tens of thousands of dollars in cost savings.
Former at-large West Des Moines City Council member Renee Hardman won unopposed re-election to her seat in the November 2025 city and school elections. But after the death of state Sen. Claire Celsi, Hardman won a special election in December for Celsi’s seat, becoming Iowa’s first Black female senator. A February special city election followed to fill Hardman’s council seat.
But none of the three candidates in the February special election got more than 50% of the vote, leaving the top two candidates to compete in the March runoff election. Former West Des Moines school board member Fannette Elliott won her council seat in the runoff election. It was West Des Moines’ first runoff election since 2009, according to a City Council document.
“I spent time door knocking and asking people to once again come out and vote for me,” Elliott said Tuesday.
The runoff election was only a month after the special election. And the March 17 runoff also coincided with St. Patrick’s Day and spring break for West Des Moines schools. Elliott said given all that, she knew she had to prepare a mailer to be sent out to voters, but that required more fundraising.
With that experience, when she voted Monday to end runoff elections in West Des Moines, “I knew having runoffs presents additional challenges,” she said.
The March election was the fourth in about four months for West Des Moines residents. Turnout for the March election increased slightly over the February one, but less than half as many voters in Polk County cast a ballot in the competitive February special election as when Hardman ran unopposed in November. And turnout in Dallas County was even worse, less than 25% of the votes cast in February as in November.
“Trying to get people to come to a runoff election is tough,” City Council member Kevin Trevillyan said Tuesday.
And then there is the cost of having runoff elections, in a climate where cities are increasingly conscious about their budgets following legislative changes affecting property taxes.
February’s special election and March’s runoff election would each cost West Des Moines an estimated $30,000 to $35,000, city clerk Ryan Jacobson said in February. A City Council document Monday put the cost at approximately $35,000, which also required an amendment to the city’s budget.
In addition to the cost and low turnout, there’s also the challenge of not having five members on council for an extended time period, City Council member Doug Loots said.
A runoff election lengthened the time the council did not have a fifth member to break a deadlocked vote or get more feedback at meetings, Loots said.
Other City Council members did not immediately respond Tuesday to a request for comment.
Des Moines moved to the winner-take-all model in 2020, after three of four races went to a runoff. Most other metro cities have moved away from the runoff model, as well.
The Iowa Secretary of State’s Office does not keep track of how many municipalities still have runoffs.
The number of signatures needed for a candidate to submit with their nomination petition in West Des Moines is also now locked at 75, instead of varying each year based on previous turnout.
Phillip Sitter covers the suburbs for the Des Moines Register. Phillip can be reached via email at PSitter@usatodayco.com. Find out more about him online in the Register’s staff directory.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: West Des Moines ends use of runoff elections, citing cost, low turnout
Reporting by Phillip Sitter, Des Moines Register / Des Moines Register
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By Phillip Sitter, Des Moines Register | USA TODAY Network
