Johnson County Auditor Travis Weipert resigns; supervisors will appoint replacement

Johnson County Auditor Travis Weipert has resigned with less than six months left in his term.

Weipert vacated the office he has held for almost 12 years on July 25, citing health reasons. He provided no further details.

"I am grateful to the people of Johnson County for the privilege of serving my community and I am incredibly proud of what my office and my amazing staff have done to improve access to voting in Johnson County," Weipert wrote in his resignation letter.

From 2020: Johnson County Auditor Travis Weipert has some ideas on how to improve elections in Iowa

Weipert will not run in November's election

The Tiffin resident also notified the Board of Supervisors and election commission that he will not seek reelection this November. Weipert emerged from the June primaries as the Democratic nominee for the post , so the Johnson County Democratic Party must nominate a replacement within the next month.

The supervisors in August will appoint a replacement to finish out Weipert's term. The board also on Aug. 14 will discuss who should replace Weipert and is expected to vote to confirm the replacement the next day.

Weipert's replacement will serve as auditor until the canvassing of votes is complete in November, at which point the winner of the auditor's race may assume the office.

The auditor oversees all elections in Johnson County, among other duties. Weipert had served as auditor since 2012.

A former person to watch

Weipert was named one of the Press-Citizen's People to Watch for 2021 after a tumultuous 2020 election season that saw his office pivot heavily toward drive-thru and mail-in voting. Former President Donald Trump's reelection campaign sued Weipert for allegedly going "rogue" in issuing absentee ballot request forms ahead of that November's election.

At the same time, Weipert's newborn was in the natal intensive care unit.

"Talk about a crazy, you know," Weipert told the Press-Citizen in 2020. "Within a couple of days' duration, I'm calling my sister to make sure our house was still standing and then I'm getting served papers while the little one is in the NICU for a couple of days."

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