Laura Bergus wins big for Iowa City Council, despite mayor’s snub

Others elected are Josh Moe, Mazahir Salih and Andrew Dunn

IOWA CITY — Laura Bergus was reelected to Iowa City Council with 66 percent of the vote, despite Mayor Bruce Teague asking voters to back her opponent.

Bergus, an Iowa City attorney and mediator, was voted into an at-large seat in 2019 but ran against Pauline Taylor this year in District A, which includes most of the west side of Iowa City as well as south of Highway 6 on the east side. Taylor was first elected to that seat in 2016.

“I’m grateful to continue my service for Iowa City,” Bergus said Tuesday night. “I think it shows Iowa City appreciates the progressive policies I’ve been championing.”

In an unusual move, Iowa City Mayor Bruce Teague on Monday asked voters not to vote for Bergus. Teague, who was not up for re-election, said he doesn’t support Bergus because she advocated for reducing funding for the Iowa City Police Department.

“Although I love and respect Councilor Bergus, I will not support her by voting for her in Tuesday’s election,” Teague wrote in a news release Monday. “I disagree with the position Councilor Bergus laid out in a Gazette op-ed on May 9, 2021, titled ‘We need to talk about abolishing the police in Iowa City’.”

In that piece, Bergus said Iowa City must “re-imagine and reach for a future without police” to address systemic problems, including disproportionate arrests of Black and brown people.

Bergus said Tuesday she “absolutely” will continue to push to shift funding from police to other programs. One she has mentioned in the past is the Mobile Crisis Outreach program run by CommUnity.

At-large seats

Winners of two at-large seats on the Iowa City Council are Mazahir Salih (37 percent of the vote) and Josh Moe (36 percent). Mandi Remington had about 27 percent with all precincts reporting. Results are not official until the canvass.

Moe, an architect and a historic preservation specialist, has volunteered with Habitat for Humanity and United Way. His top priorities include reinvesting in city-owned buildings and lowering energy usage in response to climate change.

Salih served on the Iowa City Council from 2018 to 2022, when she stepped away to focus on her job with the Center for Worker Justice. Salih’s priorities include encouraging affordable housing and jobs that pay a living wage.

District C

Andrew M. Dunn, a University of Iowa student, was elected to represent District C, which includes downtown Iowa City and north-central Iowa City. He ran unopposed. Dunn was appointed in January to fill the last year of Janice Weiner’s four-year term as an at-large councilor after Weiner was elected to the Iowa Senate.

Comments: (319) 339-3157; erin.jordan@thegazette.com