'Just do it': More women across the Des Moines metro area are running for city councils

Pleasant Hill Mayor Sara Kurovski doesn't make gender a central issue in her leadership of the east-side suburb.

But she knows being the city's first female mayor is significant.

She learned just how much while introducing her young sons to one of the metro's other mayors — this one, a man.

"My youngest looked at me and said, 'Mama, I did not know boys could be mayor, too,' " she said. "I just thought, in that moment: 'It's so normal for them that elected officials are women.' It's rewarding for me that I've made that the norm for them."

Voters heading to the polls Tuesday will see more women on the ballot than during the city elections two years ago.

Overall, the number of women running in the metro's 10 largest cities is up 45% from 2017, rising from 11 to 16.

The number of female candidates still pales compared to their male counterparts: 39 men are running for mayors' offices and city council seats across the metro, which means men make up 70% of the candidate pool.

The growing number of women running in local elections comes one year after a record number of Iowa women ran for state and federal offices.

Currently, 45 of Iowa's 150 state legislators are women. And in 2018, Iowa voters made Gov. Kim Reynolds the first elected female governor, and Reps. Abby Finkenauer and Cindy Axne the first Iowa women to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives.

"2018 became a year of the woman," said Karen Kedrowski, the director of the Carrie Chapman Catt Center for Women and Politics at Iowa State University.

But does a candidate's gender matter?

"The issue is that when women have a seat at the table, the conversations change," Kedrowski said. "They often think of issues differently with different life experiences, and this is true with any underrepresented groups."

Statewide, Iowa has 944 cities with 5,653 city council seats. Women hold 1,473 of those seats, or 26%.

Of those seats, 935 are mayoral roles. There are 143 woman mayors, which equates to 15%.

Currently, Urbandale and Altoona have all-male councils. That may change after Tuesday.

In Urbandale, Bridget Carberry Montgomery and Rebecca Haroldson are vying for one of the three open seats up this year. In Altoona, Elizabeth Burns-Thompson is running unopposed for a seat on the eastern suburb's council.

In Waukee, two women currently on the council are running against each other for mayor. One of the two, Courtney Clarke and Shelly Hughes, will become the city's first woman mayor.

Changing perceptions of who can lead

Having women as well as people of color in leadership positions doesn't just change the conversation; it also changes perceptions of who can be a leader, Kedrowski said.

"When they see only men or only white men, it sends a message to girls or people of color and makes them ask themselves, 'Does this include me?'" she said. "It's also so important to socialize young boys to understand that women can be and are leaders."

Johnston Mayor Paula Dierenfeld, who has served on the Johnston City Council for 22 years, 14 as mayor, is currently running unopposed to keep her mayoral seat.

"There's now an entire generation of kids where I'm the only mayor they've ever known," Dierenfeld said. "I think it's so important to be in the schools, and I try to be as much as I can be. I think it's important for boys and girls to see a female in that role. If the first time they've been introduced to a mayor and it's a woman, that's going to affect their perspective for the rest of their lives."

Dierenfeld said she thinks society is still going through a cultural shift when it comes to getting women interested in public service.

"We're still dealing with bias and self-imposed limits too," she said. "What you often hear (from women) is they don't have time for the roles and, regrettably, they question whether or not they're qualified... Just do it. We need more women to do it."

Kurovski, the Pleasant Hill mayor currently running to become a Polk County supervisor, said she initially said no twice before agreeing to run for mayor.

"It was about taking that step," she said. "I just wanted good things to continue to happen for my community. It was about seeing the potential we had, so I did it. It's been really rewarding."

Dierenfeld said when she first ran for City Council 22 years ago, she was a little concerned due to the relative lack of women on the council at the time — there was just one, who wasn't seeking reelection. But Dierenfeld said she worked hard, door-knocking every home to get her message out. She said she never felt that being a woman has influenced how the residents of Johnston and her peers on the council view her.

However, Dierenfeld said she has had a couple of "awkward moments" in social settings.

"I'll be with my husband at a gathering and someone says, 'Oh, there's the mayor, go and say hello,'" she said. "And someone will walk up to my husband to introduce themselves and he will be like, 'Oh, I'm not the mayor. I'm the driver.'"

Female candidates seek advice from elected women

Since getting elected, both Kurovski and Dierenfeld said they sometimes hear from other Iowa women running for office.

"They Google 'female mayors in Iowa' and stumble across me," Korovski said. "I think that's really interesting that women help and want help, so we spend time sharing lessons and strategies."

Altoona candidate Burns-Thompson said Kurovski has been a great friend and supporter of hers during her City Council campaign. Burns-Thompson, who works as manager of corporate affairs at Renewable Energy Group Inc., also believes that women bring a different perspective, but she hopes she's judged on the qualities she can bring to office.

"I have always been in traditionally male-dominated roles," said Burns-Thompson, 29. "In agriculture, going to law school, coming into something as a politician. It never fazed me. When there's an opportunity, I go for it. I think my age as well as balancing a busy career brings as much a diverse perspective as my gender."

Ward 4 Des Moines candidate Chelsea Chism-Vargas said before she even formally announced, she got in touch with people all over the country, including U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-MI.

"It's good to do that because they'll talk about their experiences," she said. "A lot of affirmations. Women who have ran before have reached out and said 'Keep going.' You get that message on a tough day, and it really helps out."

Des Moines currently has two women on the council. Chism-Vargas said the more representation there is, the better results councils will get.

"Women have been systemically marginalized from political systems here in this country, and we weren't even able to vote," she said. "When you suppress a vote like that, the participation will reflect that."

In Urbandale, candidates Carberry Montgomery and Haroldson could become the first women on the Urbandale City Council since eight years ago, when Mary Polson served on the council.

Haroldson said she's been asked personal questions about her marriage or her children, though she is not married and doesn't have kids.

"I would ask men what kind of questions they got. The typical question they get is related to where they work," she said. "I don't think it's intentional. It's a good way to strike up conversation, but there's a different way we approach men and women."

Carberry Montgomery and Haroldson both said they aren't running as the "woman candidate," but want to bring their experiences as women to the council.

"I'm running because I think I have what it takes," Carberry Montgomery said. "The fact that I am a woman is a part of what I bring to the table, which is a voice that is missing."

In West Des Moines, candidate Erin Cubit is looking to become the third woman to join the City Council. Current council member Renee Hardman was the second, and Loretta Sieman was the first. Hardman, elected in 2017, is also the first African-American woman to serve on the West Des Moines City Council. Cubit said Hardman is someone she's looked up to while running her own campaign.

"It blew my mind that she's only the second woman to serve on the City Council ever," Cubit said. "I've also been honored to talk to her and other women running for school board and people gearing up for legislative races. There is an automatic community of support for one another."

Hardman said she thinks unconscious bias will continue to exist until people become self-aware of it. She said while city council seats may have been held traditionally by men, she feels more women are becoming empowered.

"I feel women are feeling like they should be doing this — for their daughters, their granddaughters, other women — to lead the way and follow in their footsteps," Hardman said.

"We live in these communities, we work in these communities, why shouldn't we lead these communities?" Hardman said. "I was the first African American woman on the council in the history of this city and that's great, but I'll be happy when we stop saying 'the first.' "

Gage Miskimen is a news reporter mostly covering West Des Moines, Waukee, and Clive for the Register. Reach him at gmiskimen@dmreg.com or 515-284-8234.

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