Republican Party of Iowa Chairman A.J. Spiker issued a call Friday for a special nominating convention to determine the Republican winner of the District 37 race.
The call came after Jim Robidoux, who won the highest number of popular votes, failed to secure the required 35 percent of votes needed to officially be called the winner.
The convention will be held at 7 p.m. Wednesday, July 18, at . Twenty-two Polk County Central Committee members were eligible to receive the call to the convention.
, Robidoux received 714 votes for 34.38 percent; followed by Matt DeVries with 617 votes or 29.71 percent; John Landon with 360 votes or 17.33 percent; Jeffery A. Wright with 320 votes for 15.41 percent; Jacob Mason with 35 votes for 1.69 percent; and Stacey C. Rogers with 30 votes for 1.44 percent.
By day, Robidoux is a Spanish teacher at . This was his first try at running for elected office.
Robidoux said the two most important topics in the recent legislative session were education and property tax reform. "As a teacher and as a local owner I feel strongly about these issues."
Robidoux wants a cap of 2 percent on increases to residential property taxes and a 4 percent cap on commercial tax rates to protect home and business owners.
If sent to the legislature, Robidoux said he would work to prevent education mandates and regulations that prevent teachers from doing their best job.
"We must focus on getting the dollar down to the student in the classroom," he said. "We have to allow schools to do what is best for students. I will work to prevent burdensome regulations on education."
(Editor's Note: Originally, this story reported the convention would take place Wednesday, July 11. July 18 is the correct date. We apologize for the error.)
