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The results of Tuesday's special election for the first ward council seat on the Marshalltown City Council are in and Mike Ladehoff came out the victor.
Ladehoff defeated Raymond Starks 72-53. He received 63 in-person votes which were cast at the Marshalltown Public Library. Starks had the edge on absentee votes, earning 24.
There are still two absentee ballots out there which could be counted if they were mailed by Saturday.
"I'm very proud of the people that came out in subzero weather and voted," Ladehoff said. "That says a lot about the people of ward one."
Ladehoff was able to avoid election day nerves by working overtime.
"My wife was taking care of the comms center here at home," he said. "I came home and a couple people wanted me to know they went out and voted."
Starks was appointed to the council in November and has been serving since the beginning of the year.
"Well, I'm certainly disappointed but very grateful I got to serve the community, even if for a very short period of time," he said.
Votes will be canvassed on Monday afternoon.
Marshall County Auditor Nan Benson said in-person voting started out slow but picked up as the temperatures went up. Ninety-two votes were cast at the library, along with 33 absentee ballots received as of election day.
"We went into triple digits so that's good," Benson said. "It's always a little sad when you see a low voter turnout. It's always good to have voters make their choice."
It has not been announced when Ladehoff will be sworn in. The city council meets again on Monday for a regular meeting. Benson said who will serve during the meeting will depend on when the swearing in takes place.
"They could swear him in at the beginning of the meeting because it would be good to get him involved in the budget part of the process," she said.
The first ward city council position will be on the ballot again on Nov. 2.
Contact Joe Fisher at jfisher@timesrepublican.com.