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    • Ankeny among the Legislature’s fiercest battlegrounds in the 2024 election
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    Ankeny among the Legislature’s fiercest battlegrounds in the 2024 election

    Online Niel Posted on

    Close races in Polk County were a theme on election night — including two flashy legislative races in Ankeny.

    In the 42nd District, incumbent Democratic Rep. Heather Matson narrowly fended off a challenge from Republican Heather Stephenson, winning by 150 votes, according to unofficial results.

    In the 41st District, an even closer race has yet to be called by The Associated Press. Republican challenger Ryan Weldon leads Democratic incumbent Rep. Molly Buck by 136 votes, with 99 percent of the vote counted.

    Special county boards will review provisional ballots through Tuesday, with the Polk County Board of Supervisors certifying election results by the end of Wednesday. Any recount must be requested by November 18.

    More: Iowans have voted, but the results are unofficial until they are certified. Here’s how it works

    A look at the precinct maps showed that the races in Districts 41 and 42 were not only close in the final count, but also from precinct to precinct.

    In House District 41, in north Ankeny, the largest margin of victory in a district for either candidate was just 5 percentage points.

    The margins were only slightly wider in House District 42, to the south, but neither candidate won more than 60 percent of the vote in any precinct.

    Ankeny’s thoroughly mixed political landscape will make the city one to watch with municipal elections on the horizon next year.

    Over the past three years, the Ankeny School Board has seen big changes to the right (in 2021) and back to the left (in 2023).

    Weldon, one of the conservative school board members who did not take place in the city’s progressive action in 2023, is now the Republican candidate holding a narrow lead in House District 41 as of Wednesday afternoon.

    It may not be long before Ankeny is back in the political eye. The current mayor of the city, Mark Holm, captured the District 3 seat on the Polk County Board of Supervisors. A special choice may be on the horizon.

    But for now, the local political focus is on determining the winners in tight legislative races, both in Ankeny and across the state.

    Tim Webber is a data visualization specialist for the Registry. Get to him at [email protected] and on Twitter at @HelloTimWebber.

    Online Niel
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