West Des Moines voters will return to the polls after no candidate received more than half the vote in the Tuesday, Feb. 17 special election for an at-large City Council seat.
Three candidates ran for the term that ends Dec. 31, 2029: Shad Clayton, Fannette Elliott and Katherine Harrington.
Elliott finished with the most votes but fell short of the majority required to win outright, receiving 41%, according to unofficial results from Polk, Dallas and Warren county auditors. Harrington received 32% and Clayton received 28%.
Just 3,622 votes were cast across the three counties.
A runoff election between Elliott and Harrington is expected on March 17, and the winner is anticipated to be sworn in later that month.
Renee Hardman vacated the at-large seat after she won a special election to represent Iowa Senate District 16, which includes parts of West Des Moines, Clive and Windsor Heights.
Elliott, 68, a West Des Moines school board member, said she ran to reduce property taxes.
Harrington, 62, the president and CEO of the West Des Moines Chamber of Commerce, said she ran to manage growth “in a way that protects quality of life while expanding opportunity.”
Clayton, 48, a financial consultant, said he ran to be a “decisive leader” in West Des Moines and to improve the availability of single-family affordable housing.
What do campaign contributions show about local support?
Campaign finance records showed that as of Feb. 12, Harrington raised $6,205 — including more than $2,000 of her own money — Elliott raised $3,610 and Clayton, $2,865.
Elliott spent the most on her campaign — almost $3,490, or more than 96% of what she collected.
Some of Harrington’s top supporters from West Des Moines included Chris Costa, retired Principal Financial Group president and CEO Dan Houston, retired NCMIC insurance CEO Mike McCoy and Ryan Wiederstein.
Elliott’s top supporters included Hardman, the progressive Iowa Unity Coalition, Democrat Rep. Mary Madison, who represents much of the Polk County portion of West Des Moines in District 31, Polk County Treasurer Mary Wells, West Des Moines Human Services director Audrey Kennis and Windsor Heights Mayor Mike Jones.
Most of Clayton’s campaign support came from donors located outside of West Des Moines, including in Altoona, Clive, his childhood hometown of Keokuk, Osceola, Panama City in Florida, Urbandale and Waukee.
Des Moines Register reporter Tyler Jett contributed to this story.
Nick El Hajj is a reporter at the Register. He can be reached at nelhajj@gannett.com. Follow him on X at @nick_el_hajj.
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 special election ends in runoff, no candidate elected
Reporting by Phillip Sitter and Nick El Hajj, Des Moines Register / Des Moines Register
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