2023 Municipal and school district elections in Scott County
The worst politicians are elected by good people who do not vote
Party affiliation information is about the only consistent add-on we can transmit this election and that is thanks to some look-ups after a request to the Scott County Republican Party (SCRP). See our rendering below. However they have not posted anything on their website at this writing. They do invite emails with any questions. We will have more comments on this phenomenon regarding so-called non-partisan elections in a later post.
We offer anecdotes about select races. Any reflections readers might supply about the candidates in the comment section are welcome.
The Quad City Times and KWQC have done a number of articles or interviews on these races. Typically they are largely just transmittals of indistinct or vague talking points. However in some cases you can exercise some code reading to garner some distinctions. We would recommend such research although party affiliation should be a key factor. Readers can go to those sites and search topic such as “Davenport School Board Election’ or the names you are particularly interested in.
In many cases the local races are unopposed. The information we have from Scott Republican HQ did not include those. We hoped to be able to transmit as it may indicate whether that person deserves your affirmation, opposed or not. Again, if readers have any anecdotal information or recommendations it is an open forum in the comment section.
Party affiliation is a fair proxy although we realize it is not definitive only nominal especially as regards some Republicans. Such is true perhaps more so at these “non-partisan” local levels as party primaries tend to weed out or at least identify the wheat and the chaff.
However party affiliation does offer a generally effective presumption of superiority over Democrats — in other words no Democrat deserves our vote but some Republicans definitely need to be primaried. It is also true that local races can attract so-called traditional or nominal Democrats that may have a looser connection to the actual rotten nature of that party under its current control. Nevertheless their poor judgement or obliviousness is an issue.
Candidate contact information can be found at: https://www.scottcountyiowa.gov/auditor/candidates/filed-papers?folder=auditor-papers/20231107_City_School_Election/Davenport
So here is what we have:
Not all community races are listed. Not all ward/ city council seats are up for election due to staggered terms. Candidates with Republican registrations according to a recent look-up are listed first. As for unknown registrations and to flesh out any of this we recommend readers go to the candidate information listing at the Scott County Recorder website and using that contact information contact the candidate for information regarding their policy views.
Bettendorf CSD – School Board At Large – Vote for no more than 4
Registered Republicans: Paul Castro, Kevin Freking, Patrick Larkin (R), Ryan McGivern
No party affiliation: Rebecca Eastman
Registered Democrats: Erin Bannerman, Joanna Doerder, Mindy Smith-Pace
City of Bettendorf – Mayor
Bob Gallagher (R) – unopposed
City of Bettendorf – Council At Large
Frank Baden – unopposed
City of Bettendorf – Council Ward 1
Jerry Sechser – unopposed
City of Bettendorf – Council Ward 3. Vote for 1
Republican registration: Andrew Sichling
Democrat registration: Gregory Jager
City of Bettendorf – Council Ward 5 Vote for 1
Nick Palczynski – unopposed
City of Blue Grass Council – Vote for 3
Republican registration: Timothy J Brandenburg
Unknown registration (call and find out) : Robert W Blok, Schuyler Dean Bowman Jr
City of Blue Grass Mayor Vote for 1
Bradley Schutte – unopposed
City of Buffalo – Mayor – vote for 1
Unknown registration – call and find out) Sally A Rodriguez, Dave Stickrod, Tony Follis
City of Buffalo Council – Vote for 2
Registered Republicans (2019 look-up) Ted Teel, Joe Buffington
Unkown registration – (call and find out) Brian Briggs, Trent Adams, Art Bartleson, Dusty Chaplin, Sean Roman
City of Buffalo – Council (to fill a vacancy) vote for 1
Unknown registration — call and find out: Rachel Teel-Vanderpool, Jesse Leonard
City of Davenport – Mayor – Vote for 1
Registered Democrats: Mike Matson, Ken Croken
Both claim competence (surprise0 and that they will make the city run smooth or something. Yet Davenport has a weak mayoral system with the mayor only voting in the case of a tie on the council. Administrative duties are delegated with inordinate power in our judgement vested in the bureaucracy. City street construction is an atrocity of delays inflicted on motorists. The recent scandal involving city inspections remains a huge potential liability cost to the city. Shutting down the city due to BLM protestors was a capitulation to thugs.
The city council is mostly responsible and a majority is Democrat in registration which indicates a predictable policy affinity and or competence on a variety of matters including correctives. Supposed budget surpluses are the result of state and county policies, largely Republican, limiting municipal excesses while creating a more favorable climate for business and industry. Illinois flight, (Democrat run), is also a factor. Matson is no effective champion of anything and a lot of problems exist on his watch. What uber liberal hack Croken would champion is not a happy thought. Hold your nose, use your best judgement. While not an endorsement of Matson , Croken is likely to be an aggressive liberal based on who supports him, gives to him and who he has supported.
City of Davenport – At-Large- Vote for no more than 2
Republican registration: Kyle Gripp. — We suggest a bullet vote for him only
Democrat registration: Jazmin Newton, La Canna L Dixon
City of Davenport – First Ward
Rick Dunn – unopposed
City of Davenport – Second Ward – Vote for 1
Republican registration – Tim Dunn
Democrat registration – Judith Lee
City of Davenport – Third Ward – Vote for 1
Democrat registration – Paul Vasquez, Marion Meginnes
City of Davenport – Fourth Ward – Vote for 1
Democrat registration – Jade Burkholder
No party affiliation: Robby Ortiz (hard Dem orientation)
City of Davenport – Fifth Ward – Vote for 1
Tim Kelly unopposed (call and find out)
City of Davenport – Sixth Ward – Vote for 1
Republican registration (2019) Ben Jobgen – unopposed
City of Davenport – Seventh Ward
Republican registration Scott Ryder
Democrat registration: Mhisho Lynch
City of Davenport – Eighth Ward – Vote for 1
Republican registration: Paul J Reinartz Jr
Unknown registration: James Woods
Davenport CSD – School Board At Large – Vote for 4 (bullet voting can be advisable)
Republican registration – Kent Paustian, Andrew Kaufman
Democrat registration – Daniel Gosa, Karen Kline-Jerome, Connie King, Linda Hayes
No party affiliation – Karen Kline-Jerome, has voted in Democrat primaries
Davenport CSD – School Board At Large (to fill a vacancy) – Vote for 1
W Kent Barnds – unopposed
North Scott CSD – School Board At Large – Vote for no more than 4
Republican registration – Joni Dittmer, John Maxwell, Carrie Keppy, Stephanie Eckhardt
No party affiliation – Molly Bergfeld – has voted in Democrat primaries
Pleasant Valley CSD – various districts – vote for one in each respective district for your particular ballot
Republican registration – Amy E McCabe, Peter E. Olsen, F Danny Amaya
Democrat registration – Nikhil Wagle
No party registration- Adrienne Wheeler (has voted in republican primary), Jameson Smith, — Molly Brockman (has voted in Democrat primaries)
Regarding the cities or school districts of Bennet, Cal-Wheat, Dixon, Donahue, Durant, Eldridge, LeClaire (see special note) Long Grove, Maysville, McCausland, New Liberty, Panorama Park, Princeton, Riverdale, Walcott, Eastern Iowa Community College District (EICC) we encourage you to visit the Scott County Auditor website – go to the candidate information listing and using that contact information contact the candidate for information regarding their policy views.
