Connie Boesen
Connie Boesen is the Mayor of Des Moines in Iowa. Boesen assumed office on January 2, 2024. Boesen's current term ends on January 3, 2028.
Boesen ran for election for Mayor of Des Moines in Iowa. Boesen won in the general election on November 7, 2023.
Boesen is affiliated with the Democratic Party.[1][2]
Biography
Connie Boesen graduated from Des Moines Public Schools. She attended both Des Moines Area Community College and Grand View College. Boesen spent more than 33 years employed as a buyer for Younkers, beginning in 1969 and leaving the position in 2003. She started her own concessions business, Applishus, in 1988 and served as the company's president. Boesen also served as president of the Council of Des Moines PTAs and the East High School PTA, as well as treasurer of the Schools First Local Option Sales Tax campaign. She was voted a United Way Champion of Education and was a member of the United Way Board of Directors and the Early Childhood Iowa Board of Directors.[3][4]
Board membership
2015-2017
The Des Moines school board voted unanimously on 96.35 percent of its motions between the annual organization meeting on September 15, 2015, and the regular board meeting on July 11, 2017. The voting data indicated that Rob Barron, Connie Boesen, Cindy Elsbernd, Dionna Langford, and Teree Caldwell-Johnson were the governing majority on the board, and Natasha Newcomb was the sole member of a minority faction. Heather Anderson did not vote consistently enough with Newcomb or the majority to be considered part of either group.[5]
Elections
2023
See also: Mayoral election in Des Moines, Iowa (2023)
General election
General election for Mayor of Des Moines
Connie Boesen defeated Josh Mandelbaum, Denver Foote, and Christopher William Von Arx in the general election for Mayor of Des Moines on November 7, 2023.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Connie Boesen (Nonpartisan) | 48.2 | 14,507 |
 | Josh Mandelbaum (Nonpartisan)  | 45.8 | 13,784 | |
| Denver Foote (Nonpartisan) | 3.2 | 971 | ||
| Christopher William Von Arx (Nonpartisan) | 2.3 | 704 | ||
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.4 | 107 | ||
| Total votes: 30,073 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Endorsements
Boesen received the following endorsements.
2021
See also: City elections in Des Moines, Iowa (2021)
General election
General election for Des Moines City Council At-large
Incumbent Connie Boesen defeated Justyn Lewis in the general election for Des Moines City Council At-large on November 2, 2021.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Connie Boesen (Nonpartisan) | 54.0 | 9,655 |
| Justyn Lewis (Nonpartisan) | 45.2 | 8,073 | ||
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.8 | 142 | ||
| Total votes: 17,870 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
2013
Connie Boesen and Rob X. Barron defeated incumbent Joe Jongewaard and challengers Heather Ryan and Shane Schulte for two at-large seats in the general election on September 10, 2013.[6][7]
Results
| Des Moines Public Schools, At-Large General Election, 4-year term, 2013 |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Nonpartisan |  Connie Boesen Incumbent |
24.4% | 2,838 | |
| Nonpartisan | Rob X. Barron |
23.2% | 2,699 | |
| Nonpartisan | Joe Jongewaard Incumbent | 22.9% | 2,671 | |
| Nonpartisan | Shane Schulte | 19.3% | 2,251 | |
| Nonpartisan | Heather Ryan | 9.2% | 1,076 | |
| Nonpartisan | Write-in votes | 1% | 120 | |
| Total Votes | 11,655 | |||
| Source: Polk County Auditor and Commissioner of Elections, "School Board Election," accessed September 14, 2013 | ||||
Funding
As of September 9, 2013, Connie Boesen reported $5,445.00 in donations and $3,709.16 in expenditures to the Iowa Secretary of State, which left her with $1,735.84 on-hand.[8]
Endorsements
Connie Boesen did not receive any official endorsements for her campaign.
2009
| Des Moines Public Schools, At-Large General Election, 4-year term, 2009 |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Nonpartisan | Connie Boesen Incumbent |
19.1% | 5,627 | |
| Nonpartisan | Patty J. Link Incumbent |
18.5% | 5,449 | |
| Nonpartisan | Teree Caldwell-Johnson Incumbent |
16.2% | 4,767 | |
| Nonpartisan | Margaret M. Buckton |
15.4% | 4,526 | |
| Nonpartisan | Felipe Gallardo | 9.2% | 2,722 | |
| Nonpartisan | Veola Perry | 6.8% | 2,018 | |
| Nonpartisan | Zachary Lee Toillion | 5.4% | 1,596 | |
| Nonpartisan | Timothy Halsted | 4.9% | 1,431 | |
| Nonpartisan | Thalia D. Sutton | 4% | 1,189 | |
| Nonpartisan | Write-in votes | 0.5% | 149 | |
| Total Votes | 29,474 | |||
| Source: Polk County Auditor and Commissioner of Elections, "School Election Tuesday, September 8, 2009: Official Results," accessed July 19, 2017 | ||||
2006
| Des Moines Public Schools, At-Large General Election, 3-year term, 2006 |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Nonpartisan | Connie Boesen Incumbent |
37.8% | 4,835 | |
| Nonpartisan | Teree Caldwell-Johnson |
33.6% | 4,292 | |
| Nonpartisan | Flossie Dusek | 27.6% | 3,527 | |
| Nonpartisan | Write-in votes | 1% | 131 | |
| Total Votes | 12,785 | |||
| Source: Polk County Auditor and Commissioner of Elections, "School Election Tuesday, September 12, 2006: Official Results," accessed July 19, 2017 | ||||
2003
| Des Moines Public Schools, At-Large General Election, 3-year term, 2003 |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Nonpartisan | Connie Boesen |
39.7% | 7,578 | |
| Nonpartisan | Ako Abdul-Samad |
32.2% | 6,160 | |
| Nonpartisan | Marc Ward Incumbent | 28.1% | 5,365 | |
| Total Votes | 19,103 | |||
| Source: Polk County Auditor and Commissioner of Elections, "School Election Tuesday, September 9, 2003: Official Results," accessed July 19, 2017 | ||||
Campaign themes
2023
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Connie Boesen did not complete Ballotpedia's 2023 Candidate Connection survey.
2021
Connie Boesen did not complete Ballotpedia's 2021 Candidate Connection survey.
2013
Boesen's re-election announcement highlighted her efforts to increase preschool funding and to improve communication between the school district and state legislators regarding education policy and funding.[6] She also expressed approval for rising academic performance and graduation rates in the school district, stating, "There are a lot of great things going on in the district; we see all academic indicators going up, we have the achievement gap narrowing, and graduation rates are going up, and [we're] in the best financial condition we’ve been.”[9] Boesen called for additional counselors in schools and said she believed that the district had to work to maintain small class sizes. She said, "Class size definitely impacts (student learning), especially pre-K up through third grade. ...I think it’s critical that we keep those class sizes down and work at whatever we can do to promote that.”[10][11]
See also
2023 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Iowa Starting Line, "Progressives Pick Up Important Local Seats In Iowa’s Municipal Races," November 8, 2017
- ↑ Business Record, "The Elbert Files: Local elections," October 27, 2023
- ↑ Des Moines Public Schools, "Connie Boesen," accessed July 31, 2013
- ↑ LinkedIn, "Connie Boesen," accessed July 31, 2013
- ↑ Des Moines Public Schools, "Meetings," accessed August 8, 2017
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Jens Manuel Krogstad, Des Moines Register, "Boesen to seek re-election," July 18, 2013
- ↑ Mary Stegmeir, Des Moines Register, "Mix of incumbents, challengers to join Des Moines school board," September 10, 2013
- ↑ IECDB Web Reporting System, "DR-2 Disclosure Summary Page," accessed September 9, 2013 (dead link)
- ↑ Stephanie Moore, WHOtv.com 13, "SCHOOL BOARD: Three Incumbents Running," September 5, 2013
- ↑ Mary Stegmeir, Des Moines Register, "Des Moines forum addresses schools' class size," September 4, 2013
- ↑ Mary Stegmeir, Des Moines Register, "School board candidates call for more counselors," August 28, 2013
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