Altoona has ditched its runoff election system, a change the mayor says the city should’ve made “a long time ago.”
The Altoona City Council approved changing city code Monday night to end runoff elections for local offices. Previously, if candidates did not receive the a majority of the vote in the November local election, there would be a second round of voting in December to elect a candidate with a majority.
Now, simply, whoever receives the most votes the first time will win. Officials say the move will save the city taxpayer dollars.
“Thank God we’re doing this,” Mayor Dean O’Connor said.
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In the November 2023 regular election for Altoona City Council, there were five candidates running for two seats. Candidates needed 1,189 votes to win a seat outright under a formula in state law to determine a majority in the multi-seat election.
But only Julie Stewart crossed that threshold, so there was a runoff in December between the next two candidates: Jerry Evans and Vernon Willey. Evans won the runoff — and the seat. Turnout was was much lower in December; about 700 people cast a ballot in the runoff compared to about 2,700 in the regular election, according to Polk County records.
Under the new system, Stewart and Evans would’ve won in November because they won the most votes, and there would’ve been no runoff.
Few communities in the Des Moines metro use a runoff system. The city of Des Moines got rid of its runoff system in 2020, a move officials said at the time would save money after the city spent over $86,000 for three runoffs in December 2019, including former Des Moines Mayor Frank Cownie’s narrow win over Jack Hatch for his final term.
That allowed current Des Moines Mayor Connie Boesen to defeat Josh Mandelbaum in the November 2023 election with 48% of the vote to Mandelbaum’s 46%, short of a majority.
Chris Higgins covers the eastern suburbs for the Register. Reach him at chiggins@registermedia.com or 515-423-5146 and follow him on Twitter @chris_higgins_.
