Northeast Iowa Voters Decide Special Elections

Voters filled an empty city council seat and decided a pair of school issues during special elections in northeast Iowa on Tuesday (Feb. 7, 2017).

The city council election was held in La Porte City, where Jasmine Gaston was chosen to fill the seat left vacant when David Williams resigned in December. She was the top vote-getter among three candidates on the ballot. Gaston received 114 votes (55.3%), while Chad Van Dyke got 87 (42.2%) and Stuart Grote earned five (2.4%).

Gaston will complete Williams' term, which expires on Jan. 2, 2020.

In Fayette County, a proposal to formally merge the North Fayette and Valley Community school districts received overwhelming support. Unofficial results show the measure passed in the North Fayette district with 97 percent of the vote (504-17), while 92 percent (326-30) of the Valley voters said "yes" to the plan.

Passage of the measure means the districts will formally merge in July 2018. They've been operating under a whole-grade sharing agreement since the fall of 2013.

Another special election took place in the Edgewood-Colesburg School District, where voters rejected a nearly $10 million bond issue that would have financed a planned addition to the high school. The measure needed a 60-percent super majority to pass, but gained only 57 percent support (408-370).