Swisher's first female mayor tabbed as Johnson Co. auditor nominee

Johnson County Democrats have chosen their auditor nominee ahead of November's election.

The organization selected Swisher Mayor Julie Persons from a pool of four candidates during a convention on Saturday, Aug. 24 at Iowa City Liberty High School in North Liberty.

Persons became the first female mayor of Swisher in January. No Republican is registered to challenge for the auditor's position in November.

Persons is the Johnson County Democrats' Public Relations Chair and serves as a Senior Customer Care Liason at Transamerica, according to her LinkedIn .

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Incumbent Weipert resigned in May

The primary winner and longtime auditor, Travis Weipert, resigned in July, citing personal health reasons. He had served as auditor since 2012 and said he is no longer seeking re-election.

Erin Shane, the Johnson County deputy auditor, will serve out the remainder of Weipert's term.

Since Weipert won the party's primary election in June, the Democrats were allowed to nominate and appoint a candidate by Tuesday, Aug. 27 in accordance with Iowa law.

From July: Johnson County Auditor Travis Weipert resigns; supervisors will appoint replacement

Persons easily tops other candidates

Persons was one of four candidates nominated by the more than 100 delegates at Saturday's nomination meeting. She received 60 out of the possible 113, The Gazette reported .

The other candidates included Johnson County Elections Technician Alex Stanton, University of Iowa Data Management Manager Shannon Patrick and Iowa DOT Transportation Engineer and UI Center for Human Rights board member Newman Abuissa.

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Swisher's 2023 mayoral race decided by write-in

Persons endured a winding road to the Swisher mayor's seat.

No candidate filed to run for the city's top position in last year's election, forcing officials to defer to write-in votes.

Little Village Magazine reported that Councilor Daryl Hynek, who secured the most write-in votes, declined to accept the mayor's role. The Johnson County Auditor's Office then chose a second-place name at random to break a three-way tie.

Chad Velvick emerged as the victor, but he, too, declined the position.

The Swisher City Council decided to appoint a mayor and chose Persons to become the city's first female mayor.

Her term will expire after the November 2025 elections, though it is likely she would resign if elected.

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Ryan Hansen covers local government and crime for the Press-Citizen. He can be reached at rhansen@press-citizen.com or on X, formerly known as Twitter, @ryanhansen01.

This article originally appeared on Iowa City Press-Citizen: Swisher's first female mayor tabbed as Johnson Co. auditor nominee