Attorney seeks to fill vacancy on Story County Board of Supervisors

Jake Webster

Josh Opperman is once again seeking a spot on the Story County Board of Supervisors after losing his 2018 campaign for the position by .96%.

Opperman, a Democrat, joins fellow Democrat Lisa Heddens in seeking to be appointed to the vacant position created by the resignation of ex-Supervisor Rick Sanders.

When Opperman ran his 2018 campaign, he was endorsed by the South Central Iowa Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO. Opperman graduated from William Penn University and received a law degree from Drake.

When a supervisor resigns, a vacancy committee composed of the county treasurer, auditor and recorder either fills the position, or voters can file a petition with the county auditor within 14 days of the appointment to produce a special election.

Iowa code says the winner of a special election in this situation would take office “for the remaining balance of the unexpired term,” in this case until the 2022 election.

Opperman wrote an application letter to the vacancy committee, which he posted to Facebook.

“Considering I was a first-time candidate working out of town during the entire campaign and facing a pair of incumbents who were better-financed than I was, I consider my campaign to have been a great success in the field of learning how to run a campaign well and listening and getting to know the people of Story County,” Opperman said of his 2018 campaign in the letter.

In the 2018 general election, Opperman finished fourth of four candidates on the ballot, failing to win a seat by 701 votes, according to official election results.