ISU student Ryan Doll and incumbent Daryle Vegge will go head-to-head in a run-off election Tuesday to decide the 3rd Ward representative on Ames City Council.

In the regular election, held Nov. 8, Doll, senior in political science, received 49 percent of the vote, Vegge received 43 percent and Jeremy Davis received 8 percent, preventing him from being on the run-off ballot.

A candidate must receive 50 percent plus one vote to be elected.

Since the November election, Davis and Robin Habeger, a former council candidate who was not elected, have publicly endorsed Vegge in his run for the 3rd Ward seat.

“I believe I see more eye-to-eye with Daryle on a number of issues,” Davis said. “And from personal viewpoint, I find it a tough challenge to vote for someone that doesn’t pay property taxes.”

Habeger said she chose to endorse Vegge because of his experience, both in life and on City Council.

“Experience that Daryle brings to the council is going to be crucial to us over the next two to four years,” she said. “We need people on council who have in-depth knowledge of how council works. Daryle has that experience and track record of listening to people.”

Vegge said he felt honored to have the support of Davis and Habeger.

“I do think it has been a help in several ways and for me, personally, it has been a real morale boost,” he said. “I am very appreciative.”

Doll said Vegge’s endorsements didn’t come as a surprise and didn’t really matter to him.

“I think they had a lot more views that went together, views that were a lot alike,” he said. “I just continued to focus on the people and have made an effort to reach out to people we assumed supported him or were split between us.”

Both candidates have continued trying to reach people and spread word about their campaign.

“I’ve heard from other people that focused too much on trying to get new voters and they lost, so we are focused on our base and the people we knew supported us and just reminded people to get out and vote,” Doll said. “I feel confident we’ve done everything we can.”

Vegge said he has had a great deal of grassroots support and is continuing to send out campaign mailers and going door-to-door.

“I continue to door-knock and generally this has been rewarding, enjoyable and informative,” he said.

“We’ve also done more ads, letters, signs, fliers and all the rest one would normally think to do in a campaign.”

Doll said one of his main concerns for the run-off election is the weather.

“I’m concerned about the weather because it is going to be cold and it will be a big issue in getting people out to the polls,” he said.

Run-off election turnout is typically lower than regular election turnout, said Dani Dunham, Story County deputy elections auditor.

The 2003 run-off election between at-large candidates Matthew Goodman and Mary Ann Lundy had lower turnout than the regular city election. Less than 11 percent of the registered voters cast a ballot, with 12 percent voting in the same race during the regular city election, Dunham said.