Washington Mayor Pro Tem Millie Youngquist opens an informational meeting on proposed railroad quiet zones and crossing closures in early 2023, just a few weeks after being thrust into the spotlight as the city’s acting chief executive. Her victory in a special election Tuesday night means she’ll keep that role through the end of 2025. (Kalen McCain/The Union)
WASHINGTON — Mayor Pro Tem Millie Youngquist can officially shorten her title, coming out of a special election Tuesday with 432 ballots in her favor. At 44.7%, she won the plurality of votes cast to choose Washington’s next mayor in a four-way race.
Reached for comments after unofficial election results were announced, Youngquist said she was, “Pleasantly surprised.“
“I’m pleased and flattered that the citizens of Washington have put their vote of confidence in me,“ she said. ”I’ve done a lot of hard working meeting people and knocking on doors and shaking hands, and talking to people, and hopefully that helped get some of the vote out.“
Advertisement
The longtime council member and Washington’s acting mayor for the last 14 months campaigned on a simple message: she’s practical. She’s patient. And she already knows how to do the job.
Those talking points proved more persuasive than those from skeptics, some of whom argue she’s not as assertive a leader as recently resigned Mayor Jaron Rosien, or blaming her for recent sewer and water rate hikes.
Runners-up in the race were council members Elaine Moore (171 votes,) and Ivan Rangel, (240 votes,) as well as challenger candidate Rob Meyer (130 votes.)
Special elections — which happen outside of regularly scheduled primaries and general elections, involving high-profile state or federal offices — are not known for generating much voter interest. With that in mind, a considerable number came to the polls April 30, totaling 978 ballots.
Advertisement
The number dwarfs the last citywide special election in 2017, which saw just 507 voters turn out for a public measure on hotel/motel taxes.
Washington Resident Ethel Moothart considers her ballot before filling it out, in Washington’s April 30, 2024 special election for mayor. (Kalen McCain/The Union)
But it falls short of other off-season citywide elections in recent memory, like a contentious bond referendum in 2016, which brought 1,712 voters to the polls before it ultimately failed. And Washington’s last contested mayoral election, a two-way race between Jaron Rosien and Pete Schaefer in 2017, brought 1,308 ballots, considerably more than Tuesday night’s totals.
Even for a special election, the latest race happened on unusually short notice, and for the first time used a polling place at Dallmeyer Hall on the Washington County fairgrounds, rather than a retirement home closer to most residents’ doorsteps. Both factors may have suppressed turnout for demographics that rely on the convenience of a longer mail-in absentee window, or access to a ballot box within walking distance.
After winning what was effectively a re-election bid, Youngquist is poised to remain in the mayor’s chair once unofficial results are finalized by County Supervisors next week. That gives her a green light to direct council members toward her priorities, a list that includes infrastructure maintenance, communication with the public and enforcement of the city’s nuisance and property maintenance codes.
The mayor-elect previously said she thought of the race as a referendum on her own leadership over the last several months. Tuesday’s vote appeared to confirm Youngquist still has the public’s blessing to stay at the helm, at least from the plurality of Washington’s voters.
“For me, knowing that I’ve been duly elected by the citizens of Washington, would be like a vote of confidence,“ Youngquist said in an earlier interview with SEIU. ”I could move forward with my ideas. I always want to remain open for citizens, for them to come to me.“
Advertisement
On Tuesday night, the Mayor-Elect said she was excited to continue her role, and thanked opposing candidates for running.
“I look forward to working with Ivan and Elaine on city council, they have not lost their position on council and their voice, and they are passionate about Washington,” she said. “And I also thank Rob for putting himself out there as a candidate, and wish him the best.”
Transparency advocates found something to celebrate in Governor Kim Reynolds’ final bill signings on May 17. The governor rejected House File 2539—her only veto of the Iowa legislature’s 2024 session—due to language that would have created an “enormous loophole” in the open meetings law, experts inside and outside state government warned.
Drafting a better bill to strengthen penalties for open meetings violations should be easy, if Iowa lawmakers return to the topic in 2025.
But fixing the process that allowed such a poorly-worded bill to reach the governor’s desk would be a tall order. Because while House File 2539 suffered a unique fate, its journey through the legislature illustrated broader problems with how the GOP-controlled House and Senate do business.
An eight year old child was among six people rescued Saturday afternoon on the West Fork of the Des Moines River, north of Estherville. Travis Sheridan, Estherville’s Fire Chief, said a 911 call indicated a kayak flipped over and a woman and child were in the water.
“Once fire fighters got on the scene, the child was still OK, with just basically her face sitting above the water. Her life jacket was caught in the log jam,” Sheridan said. “They’d tried taking it off, but that just sucked the child further into the log jam.”
Firefighters were able to cut the girl’s life jacket off and rescue her from the river. Sheridan credits the girl’s aunt for keeping the eight year old’s head above water.
“She held onto that child for over 30 minutes,” Sheridan said. “She saved that child’s life until our rescue personnel could get on scene.”
Advertisement
Firefighters used the department’s rescue boat to bring the aunt, her niece and four others to shore. Two others who’d be in the river were able to get out of the water on their own. Sheridan said the Emmet County dispatcher was on the phone for 40 minutes, relaying information from the stranded people on the river to rescuers. The Iowa Department of Natural Resources deployed a back-up rescue boat to the scene and the Iowa State Patrol had three drones flying overhead to monitor the situation.
“It was just a collaborative effort by all,” Sheridan said. “I couldn’t have asked for a better outcome.”
The names of the people who were rescued have not been released.
