During this hour of River to River, host Ben Kieffer talks with University of Northern Iowa political science professor Chris Larimer about the results of Iowa's municipal elections that took place on Tuesday this week. Several larger cities in the state either have new mayors or will host run off elections.
"In the city of Ames, Ann Campbell stepped aside, she'd been the mayor for a long time," says Larimer. "John Haila is the new mayor. It will be interesting to see what happens there. Anytime you have a mayor for a long time, it's interesting to watch and see if the direction of the city changes."
"It'll be interesting to try and get a sense of enthusiasm, or the extent to which voters are really engaged. Most seem to hover between 15 and 22 percent turnout, so it'll be interesting to see what happens in these run off elections."
Chair of the Department of Political Science at Drake University Dennis Goldford also joins the conversation.