The convention that will name the Republican nominee for the district one supervisor seat is set for July 8 at the county courthouse, however, it will be closed to both the public and the media.
“The only ones there will be the central committee members, delegates, alternates and the candidates,” Cherokee County GOP Chairman Mark Leeds explained. He indicated that the members of the central committee believed that there would be less pressure for both candidates and delegates to hold the convention in a closed setting. He assured that the winner will be immediately announced when the convention is ended.
The race for district one, which contains northern Cherokee County with Afton and Cherokee townships, was too close to call after June’s primary election.
Initial results for district one supervisor indicated that Republican Rick Mongan, R-Cherokee, was the top recipient with 456 votes, or 26.7% of the overall tally. Ray E. Mullins II, R-Cherokee, notched 450 votes, or 26.3% of the tally. Chad Brown, R-Cherokee, received 421 votes, or 24.6% of the vote. Phil Stowater, R-Cherokee, received 381 votes, or 22.3% of the voters.
Per Iowa Code, if no candidate receives at least 35% of the votes cast by their party, the primary is inconclusive. Therefore, with no candidates reaching viability, the Cherokee County Republican Party was tasked with selecting a nominee to fill the district one supervisor candidate in the general election set for November.
Leeds said that the county Republicans received guidance from the state when they organized the upcoming convention, but ultimately the final call on how to run the meeting was in their hands. “The central committee met on June 18 and at that time we looked at all the options available and what’s required for us to do,” he stated.
Leeds outlined how the convention will work, explaining that there are 34 delegates in total. The delegates are all volunteers who were elected at last February’s caucus. Each precinct was able to elect a number of delegates and alternates per directions from the state.
The delegates will gather at the convention on July 8 and will hear each candidate speak for five minutes. Then, votes will be cast. If no candidate receives at least 51% of the votes, then a second round of voting will be done. If there is still not a 51% winner, the candidate with the lowest number of votes will be dropped from the list before a third round of voting. If again, there is still not a winner with at least 51%, candidates will be allowed to speak for an additional three minutes before another vote.
Unfortunately, not every precinct was able to fill all of their delegate spots. Unfortunately, not every precinct has alternates. Leeds told the Chronicle Times that a complete list of delegates was “public record” and referred anyone interested to the County Auditor’s office.
Leeds further explained that if a precinct is missing delegates, either by not having anyone elected at the caucus, or if a delegate is unable to attend the July 8 meeting and there are no alternates, that precinct will lose that same number of votes. “That’s the process,” he said.
Prior to publication the Chronicle Times received confirmation that candidates Rick Mongan, Ray E. Mullins II and Chad Brown will be in attendance at the convention, but had not heard from Phil Stowater. Please visit our website at chronicletimes.com to check for post-publication updates.
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