By Anelia K. Dimitrova
Tom Nagle is the Ward 3 councilman-elect in Cedar Falls after the Dec. 2 runoff with incumbent Daryl Kruse.
With a 10.99% voter turnout in the ward for the runoff election, Nagle, a businessman and a first-time office seeker, won convincingly. He garnered 64.35% of the 635 ballots that were cast in that election.
Kruse, who has been serving the residents of the ward since 2018, received 35.49% or 225 votes.
The Board of Supervisors will certify the results on Thursday, according to the Black Hawk County Elections Office.
Nagle was the top vote-getter in the Nov. 4 election, which was a three-way race. According to the official results for that election, Nagle won 37.74% or 514 votes; Kruse 31.72% or 432 votes and Bob Manning 30.10% or 410 votes. Since Cedar Falls has an ordinance which requires that a candidate must garner 50% plus one in order to win a seat, the run-off election was held.
There are 5,779 registered voters in Ward 3.
Reached for comment after the runoff results were announced, Nagle expressed gratitude to the voters and said he was ready to hit the ground running with the goal-setting session the council will hold on Thursday evening.
“Thanks to all of my supporters and the voters for giving me the opportunity to serve the city as a member of the City Council,” he told The Cedar Falls News Hub. “Also, I would like to thank Daryl Kruse for his service to the city.”
For his part, Kruse praised his former opponent’s campaign.
“I would like to congratulate Tom Nagle on a good, clean campaign,” he told the Cedar Falls News Hub after the election. “I wish him well, the learning curve is just starting for him.”
Kruse lauded his supporters’ efforts and reflected on his appreciation for the residents of the ward.
“I would like to thank the citizens for a great eight years but I am not going away,” he said. “I learned a lot about city operations and finances. It’s like now graduating junior high and going on to high school for my next steps. I am going to catch up on personal projects that have fallen by the wayside and my financial planning practice as well as my real estate portfolio. I am definitely not going to go away.”