Northwest Iowa — This coming Tuesday, December 14th will be election day for part of our area. But it’s a special election for one position for one year.
Redistricting completed this summer will mean that the current Senate District 1 will be split up into a number of districts, and the NEW District 1, won’t even be in our part of northwest Iowa — it’ll be in the Sioux City area. But, there is one more state legislative session before that happens, set to convene in January. And the resignation of State Senator Zach Whiting means the CURRENT District 1 is without a Senator. Whiting resigned to take a position in Texas. At this point, Senate District 1 includes Lyon, Osceola, Clay, Dickinson, and Palo Alto counties here in northwest Iowa.
County Auditors’ offices in District 1 will be open this Saturday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. for people who want to absentee vote in person at the auditors’ offices. Other absentee ballots must get to the appropriate auditor’s office by 8 p.m. on Election Day, December 14th. The last day to vote in person at the auditors’ offices is the day before the election, so Monday, December 13th.
There are two candidates vying for the office. They are Republican Dave Rowley and Democrat Mark Allen Lemke, both from Spirit Lake.
Neither of the candidates, should they win, would live in the right area to represent any of the four counties in our coverage area in 2023, as Spirit Lake will then be part of the new District 5. Osceola and O’Brien counties will be part of the new District 3, and Lyon and Sioux counties will be part of the new District 2.
