
Voters went polls in two Dubuque County special elections yesterday.
In Farley a special election was held to fill a vacancy on their city council. Corey Birkel defeated Nick Mescher with 72 percent of the vote. The At-Large vacancy was created when longtime city council member Joyce Jarding resigned in October.
And the City of Peosta has a new Mayor. James Merton received 60 percent of the vote, defeating Jack Kalb and Larry Mescher. Kalb got 33 percent of the vote with Mescher getting around 5 percent.
Mescher resigned as Mayor in October in an email to council members after a contentious meeting. Two days later, he asked the council to rescind his resignation, but the members declined. The council initially opted to appoint a new mayor, but changed course after over 130 residents signed a petition demanding an election.
Voter turnout in the two elections was 22 percent.