Live Updates and Results: Grinnell voters cast their ballots

Follow along as our reporters deliver live coverage from Grinnell polling locations. As we speak with voters, we will update this page with insights on which candidates they support, which issues are important to them and any other important developments from the polls.

For more information about casting your ballot for mayor, check out our voter guide. To learn more about the City Council candidates in Poweshiek County, check out our candidate questionnaire. To know more about the uncontested races of the Grinnell-Newburg School District Board, check out our voter guide.

According to Poweshiek County Courthouse’s official website, results will be available on election night.

Results

Mayor: Sam Cox has won with 1,192 votes compared to Russ Crawford’s 864 votes, with a lead in all four wards.

City Council, at-large: Sarah Smith has won with 1,709 votes.

City Council Ward 1: John D. Cox, 261 votes, has defeated incumbent Lee David Staroska, 212 votes.

City Council Ward 3: Rachel Bly has won with 272 votes.

City Council Ward 4: Shane Hart has won with 386 votes.

Grinnell-Newburg School Board, at-large: Rebecca Sallee Hanson and Ben Cooprider were both elected as members at-large. Hanson received 1,512 votes and Cooprider received 1,429 votes.

Grinnell-Newburg School Board, District 1: Chris Starrett has won with 1,655 votes.

Grinnell-Newburg School Board, District 2: Tyler Harter has won with 1,689 votes.

Public Measure SI: The measure has passed with 1,720 votes.

All results reported by the Iowa Secretary of State are unofficial. 

Live Updates

10:18 a.m., Elks Lodge — “This is my first year being an Iowa resident and I think local elections are really important,” said Vivian Finch `26. “I heard like a couple of years ago, there was like a school board election that had three votes. That’s a very small number that can swing either way, so I think it’s really cool to be involved in the community and vote.”

10:26 a.m., Elks Lodge, from S&B staff writer Manny Soloway — A steady stream of people have been voting this morning at Elks Lodge. Voters have skewed older. Very few students have voted in the last half hour.

11:12 a.m., Elks Lodge — “I voted because I tried to vote in every election because it’s important,” said Alexis, a worker at Grinnell College. “I remember when I was in college, I had a professor who had lived here [in the United States] and she’d been here for, I think, seven years. She was super excited because it was her first time being able to vote because she had just, or she had gotten her citizenship, but you have to wait a while before you can vote. I remember her excitement. I was like, ‘Oh, I gotta vote.’ Like, that’s cool, that means something. So I always try to vote and do my research for who I think will be the best person. And when in doubt, I vote for women.”

12:00 p.m., Elks Lodge — “This is my community, and so not only is it exciting to see that we had some contested races, which means that there are a lot of people who want to do public and civic service, which is hard,” said Shannon McNaul. “It means that people care about this community and where it goes and what it becomes. A lot of small towns are dying. We don’t wanna be one of those.”

12:04 p.m., Elks Lodge — “I’m on the city council and I’m going to spend the next two years dealing with whoever wins,” said Byron Hueftle-Worley, at-large member of the Grinnell City Council. “[The mayor] is the face of the community. You have to say, when visitors come and see the town, or when we send a major representative to another town, who do you wanna have?”

12:04 p.m., Elks Lodge — Two voters, Karen and Kelly, said that they were supporting Sam Cox for mayor. “I am not particularly well-versed in the strengths and weaknesses of the other candidate, but I do know that Sam has just kind of created a fantastic coalition of different kinds of people in town, which is hard to do,” said Karen.

“I would say that every time I come into this building, I’m both more aware of that sort of divide of the town — you know, black and white, blue and red, whatever, and also more hopeful because there are other people here dealing with what they need to do,” said Kelly. “It feels like when you try and face these gigantic divides at a personal, intimate, individual level, it seems more manageable because we’re all people, you know. It’s a small city, a tight community. Everyone knows everyone.”

1:37 p.m., Drake Community Library — “I like Sam quite a bit, and I think she’ll do more for the community,” said Abby Mark, 29, who voted for Sam Cox for mayor. “Thankfully, I live and I work downtown, so this [voting] is pretty accessible for me. Very convenient. Stop by pretty you know, pretty easily, and sometimes I get nervous. I have a lot of anxiety, but it worked out pretty well.”‘

1:38 p.m., Poweshiek County Fair 4-H Building — “[Sam Cox] gives Grinnell a really lively and wonderful place for people to gather. And I can’t think of anywhere else where the community and the college communities merge better than at Saints Rest,” said Rev. Wendy Abrahamson, 64. “I’m really excited about Sarah Smith for city council and Rebecca Sallee Hanson for school board. I know them both really well, and they’re going to be magnificent.”

1:43 p.m., Poweshiek County Fair 4-H Building — “I know Sam [Cox], I think she does a lot for the community. I think that putting her in that position will enable her to do even more. So I think it’s the best bet to get things to happen for the community,” said Janet Belisle, 47.

1:49 p.m., Poweshiek County Fair 4-H Building — “I voted for Sam, so I don’t know that other person, and I know her to be a business owner and someone who has continually tried to be a part of committees and councils to be of service to make things better,” said Jackie Hutchison, 54. “I think Rebecca Hanson and Ben Cooprider are good. Some of the people I didn’t know and for different positions, and then I felt like I just didn’t vote at all.”

“I just don’t want somebody who’s like, totally gonna be a jackass, right? I just want somebody who’s gonna listen to other people and consider points of view,” she added.

1:57 p.m., Drake Community Library — Chava Kernan, 23, and Laura Beth, 21, had to use a fishing license and a water bill as proof of residence. Both voted for Sam Cox for mayor. “We moved from Ward 1 to Ward 3 this year, and so they want us to bring in a new proof of address so we could vote in our district,” Kernan said.

2:01 p.m., Drake Community Library — “I voted for Russ Crawford for mayor, and I didn’t do any write-ins and I did vote for the local option sales tax. I feel like he would work good for the town of Grinnell and do what needs to be done to benefit our community,” said April Isaac, 54.

2:03 p.m., Poweshiek County Fair 4-H Building — “She’s a local business owner. She’s just pleasant to be around, and I know that how she runs her businesses is how she’ll run the city, and I think she’s just a great person to be around,” said Ashley Brewster, 24, who voted for Sam Cox as mayor. “Sam was for sure, just the one that I wanted to make sure I got on the ballot today.”

2:15 p.m., Drake Community Library — “I’m a democrat and I’m a feminist, so I voted for Sam Cox for mayor, and Ben Cooprider. The rest were just, you know, they were running by themselves. So, I had to vote for them,” Lisa Holla Peter, 45.

5:22 p.m., Drake Community Library — Lucy Chen, 56, said that she had cast her ballot early for Sam Cox and voted yes to authorize the renewal of the local sales and services tax. “A little bit personal knowledge, like Sam [Cox] had a website,” she said regarding what helped her make her decision on who to vote for. “I don’t know that other people had, like, something written out like that.”

5:37 p.m., Drake Community Library — Lisa Boyes, 65, said that the voting process was easy, and that she voted for Rachel Bly for city council because “I like what she stands for.” “Some of them, I did not know, for the school district, but there weren’t that many names on the ballot,” she said. “And one said, vote for no more than two. But there were only two people, and I thought, vote for both of them.”