Johnson County Filing Deadline

Johnson County Filing Deadline

Here's the courthouse races in Johnson County.

County Attorney: Open seat after 24 years of an unopposed Pat White. Two way Democratic race between Nick Maybanks and Janet Lyness. Both are running hard; read the back pages of this blog and you'll note their mutual omnipresence at events.

Treasurer, Recorder: Tom Kriz, Kim Painter respectively; unopposed. Both had hot primaries when first elected in 1998; both have settled in.

Board of Supervisors: Two seats. Incumbents Mike Lehman and Sally Stutsman are looking to stay on.

Newport Road resident Larry Meyers is challenging, and identifying strongly on that issue (campaign materials feature the "Don't Tread On Me" flag that's become the meme of the fight). Will the road opponents be able to come up with numbers to match their intensity?

Also in the running is John Schneider of rural Lone Tree. He ran in 2004 and came in 6th out of 8, doing well in the southern part of the county. But this year the dynamic is a bit different. In `04 the leading candidates were from the north (Harney, Dvorak) or Iowa City (Neuzil, Sullivan, O'Donnell), with Schneider the only one from the south. This time, Schneider competes for that base with Stutsman and Lehman.

This is the only race where the Republicans are making an effort, with two candidates: newcomer Alan Curry and `04 contender Rich Benn. But that's not a factor in June. In November? Depends on who the Democrats (and crossovers) nominate.

Bottom line: two hot courthouse races means high turnout in Johnson County. But don't get the formula wrong. High turnout in the most lefty county does not necessarily mean high turnout for the most lefty candidate. With the University just getting back into summer session on June 6, the students are a non-factor, and crossover voting means this electorate more closely resembles a city election crowd than a party caucus or convention crowd.