DES MOINES, Iowa —
Connie Boesen made history Tuesday night by becoming the first woman to be elected mayor of Des Moines.
The Iowa Secretary of State's Office reports Boesen earned approximately 48% of the vote (14,507 votes), defeating fellow councilmember Josh Mandelbaum (13,784 votes or around 46%), activist Denver Foote (971 votes/3%) and musician Christopher Von Arx (704 votes/2%).
As mayor, Boesen plans to address issues of public safety, infrastructure and neighborhood redevelopment.
“I’m going to continue my main things I’ve been talking about: neighborhood revitalization, economic development, bringing new businesses, and making sure we have a safe, clean city and ensuring we take care of people,” she said.
Prior to Election Day, Boesen earned the endorsement of several of her colleagues, including councilmembers Carl Voss, Linda Westergaard and Joe Gatto.
“It’s very humbling because they know they can work with me and that we can work together and come up with solutions and make this the best city it can be,” she said.
Boesen also earned the endorsement of longtime Mayor Frank Cownie, who decided not to run for reelection after 20 years of service.
"I'm going to continue to fight for every single person for their reproductive freedom, for our trans friends, I'm going to fight for you to make sure you know you are welcome in Des Moines," Mandelbaum said Thursday night while conceding the race to Boesen.
Read on to learn more about Boesen and her competitors.
WINNER: Connie Boesen (48.22%)
A long-time Des Moines resident, Boesen graduated from East High School and attended DMACC and Grand View University.
She was first elected to the city council in 2017. Before that, Boesen was a member of the Des Moines Public Schools board. In addition to her public service, Boesen is also the owner of the Applishus and Salad Bowl concession stands at the Iowa State Fair.
Boesen hopes to address issues of public safety, infrastructure and neighborhood redevelopment.
"I have four core things that I talk about: create a safer Des Moines, accelerate our economic development and our infrastructure repairs, revitalize our neighborhoods and make sure we take care of everyone. So that's the core principles and that's why I'm running," Boesen told Local 5 in September.
Economic development is one of the first issues Boesen hopes to tackle as mayor.
"I really wanna look at the economic development, and how we can restructure first how we can support small businesses," Boesen said.
Boesen's previous political experience earned her the trust of several of her colleagues. In October, current councilmembers Carl Voss, Linda Westergaard and Joe Gatto all endorsed Boesen, citing her determination and experience.
“I’m honored to have the support and trust of my colleagues on the Des Moines City Council,” Boesen said in a press release. “. . .Together, I know we can bring people together to find solutions and keep Des Moines heading in the right direction."
Boesen will be the first woman to serve as mayor of Des Moines.
Josh Mandelbaum (45.85%)
Born and raised in Des Moines, Mandelbaum is serving his second term on the city council, representing Ward 3. He currently works as an attorney at the Environmental Law & Policy Center.
Mandelbaum campaigned on prioritizing affordable housing, supporting a strong public transit system, improving public safety and investing in green infrastructure, according to his website.
"I'm going to create a community that people want to choose to be and choose to stay, that's the type of place I want to create," Mandelbaum told Local 5 in September.
Mandelbaum recently caused controversy with a campaign flyer that claimed he is "the only candidate for Mayor who stood up [for women's healthcare rights] when it counted." The claim was made in reference to a proposed resolution that would have provided flights to employees to receive abortions out-of-state, among other protections for those seeking abortions.
Despite criticism from his fellow candidates, Mandelbaum stood by the flyer's claims, telling Local 5, "I voted to move forward with that, and my opponent voted against that. That's a pretty clear difference and a pretty important difference."
Denver Foote (3.23%)
Foote was born and raised in Iowa and currently lives in the Drake neighborhood.
In 2016, Foote began working alongside Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement. Since then, Foote has organized locally with Des Moines Peoples Town Hall. They also used to sit on the board of directors for the Iowa Abortion Access Fund.
Foote's campaign platform focused on improving pedestrian infrastructure, addressing the houselessness crisis, tackling climate change, decriminalizing marijuana and relocating funds from the police budget to other causes.
"I felt like our asks for basic human dignity were falling on deaf ears, so after the statewide election, after feeling this huge urgency, I decided to run for mayor because I didn't think that somebody can represent the working class," Foote told Local 5.
At a forum in September, Foote advocated for multi-use zoning to allow residents to live and work in the same place. They also talked about the need for a more robust transit system downtown to travel the city more safely.
"I wish we had late-night running transit, right? So we could get home safe, so we don't have to drive," Foote said. "That's a big thing from stopping people [from coming downtown at night]."
Foote has also noted the need for the city to take action against gun violence, while also implementing preventative measures such as "Stop the Bleed" trainings and gun safety trainings.
"I also believe we do not need domestic abusers to have guns in their hands," Foote said in June. "We need to work with people in our city that represent districts, like our [representatives and senators] to have those conversations of what the state of Iowa should look like."
Christopher Von Arx (2.34%)
Von Arx is a security guard and musician who ran for mayor to "enlighten the kingdom", as he told Local 5 in September.
A self-described fiscal conservative, Von Arx said his first priority as mayor would be lowering taxes.
"I'm going to try and get everyone onboard with voting to lower taxes for everybody, and maybe cut some spending," he said at a forum in October.
On Facebook, Von Arx specified that his first act as mayor would be to propose a 10% budget cut to all departments except first responders. That money would then be returned to senior citizens through property tax rebates.
"Des Moines residents have been overburdened with out-of-control spending," Von Arx wrote on Facebook. "The city council never found a spending resolution they did not like."
Von Arx also shared unique opinions about how to improve access to housing in Des Moines.
"See if we could rent out a patch of land somewhere, and uh, get all of the homeless people to get on busses to bring 'em down to this patch of land where there's a whole bunch of tents, and medical attention and psychiatry," Von Arx said in October.