Iowa cities elect their mayors at the regular city election, held in odd-numbered years. The next one is on Tuesday, November 2, 2027, and your city clerk can tell you whether the mayor's seat is on that ballot. To run, you must be an eligible elector of the city when you file and at the election. You collect signatures from eligible electors of the city on a nomination petition, and file it with a notarized affidavit of candidacy at the county auditor's office. In cities with primary provisions, the filing window is Monday, August 9 to 5 p.m. on Thursday, August 26, 2027. In all other cities, it is Monday, August 23 to 5 p.m. on Thursday, September 16, 2027.
There is no filing fee, and the race is nonpartisan. This guide uses the Iowa Code (cited by section) and the Iowa Secretary of State's candidate guides. A 2026 law, House File 2501, made the county auditor the filing office for every city candidate. Confirm anything specific to your city with your county auditor.
For the full 2027 picture, including council, school board and community college races, see our guide to running for local office in Iowa.
What an Iowa mayor does, and how long the term is
The mayor's role depends on the city's form of government, which may be mayor-council, council-manager, commission, home rule charter, special charter or another form in state law (372.1). In the mayor-council form, which every new city starts with, the mayor appoints a council member as mayor pro tem and appoints and dismisses the marshal or chief of police with the consent of a majority of the council. The mayor is not a member of the council and does not vote as one (372.4).
State law sets two-year terms for elective city offices unless state law or the city charter provides otherwise, and a city's voters may change a term to two or four years by petition and special election (376.2). New terms begin at noon on Monday, January 3, 2028 (based on state law).
Before you file, read your city's charter and attend several council meetings. Our general guide on how to run for mayor, and what it costs covers the planning questions that apply in any state.
Step 1: Check the qualifications
Eligible elector of the city. A mayoral candidate must be an eligible elector of the city when filing and at the election (376.4). That means meeting every requirement to register to vote: a U.S. citizen, an Iowa resident and at least 18, with no unrestored felony conviction, no current court judgment of incompetence to vote, and no claim to vote elsewhere. The Secretary of State's guides say you do not have to be registered. An elected official must keep living in the city for the whole term (39.27).
One office at a time. You may not run for mayor and a council seat at the same election. You may run for a city office and a school board office at the same election, filing separate papers for each (49.41).
Federal restrictions. If your job is with a state or local agency and is connected with a program paid for in whole or in part with federal loans or grants, the federal Hatch Act may limit your political activity. The Secretary of State's guides refer Hatch Act questions to the U.S. Office of Special Counsel.
Step 2: Learn your city's nomination method
Every Iowa city uses one of three methods (376.6), and the method decides your filing window, your signature number and whether a primary or runoff can follow.
| Method | Filing window | What can follow |
|---|---|---|
| Primary provisions (the default) | August 9 to 5 p.m. August 26 | A primary on Tuesday, October 5, if three or more candidates file for mayor |
| Runoff provisions (by ordinance) | August 23 to 5 p.m. September 16 | A runoff on Tuesday, November 30, between the top two if no one wins a majority |
| Chapter 45 nominations (by ordinance) | August 23 to 5 p.m. September 16 | No primary and no runoff; the candidate with the most votes wins |
A primary is needed when more than twice as many candidates file as there are seats, so for mayor it takes three or more. The two candidates with the most primary votes go on the November ballot (376.7). Each city clerk certifies the city's method to the county auditor by Wednesday, August 4, 2027 (based on state law).
Step 3: Collect signatures from across the city
How many. In a city with primary or runoff provisions, you need signatures from eligible electors equal to at least 2 percent of the people who voted for mayor at the last regular city election, and at least 10 (376.4). As an example only, if 4,000 people voted for mayor last time, 2 percent is 80. In a chapter 45 city, the minimum depends on population: 75 for 25,000 or more people, 50 for 7,500 to 24,999, 25 for 2,500 to 7,499 and 10 for fewer than 2,500 (45.1). Ask your county auditor for your number, and collect more than the minimum.
Who may sign. Any eligible elector of the city may sign a mayoral petition, including you, and a person may sign petitions for more than one candidate for mayor.
What each line needs. Each signer writes a signature (the state guides say it may be printed), a home address with house number, street and city, and the date. Lines with only a post office box, a partial address or an address plainly outside the city are not counted (45.5). Petitions are paper pages; do not plan on electronic signatures.
The page header. Signatures count only on pages where the candidate information is written at the top. Complete one header, copy it onto every page and check each page before it goes out.
For a full walkthrough of the form and a door-to-door plan for collecting signatures, see the Iowa nomination petition guide on Beacon, our canvassing app's site.
Step 4: File your affidavit and petition
- Complete the affidavit of candidacy on the Secretary of State's form. Write your name exactly as it should appear on the ballot, with no parentheses, quotation marks or titles, and give your home address, county and the office. Leave party affiliation blank.
- Sign before a notary. Papers are rejected if the affidavit lacks your name, the office, your signature or the notary's signature (45.5).
- Bind the petition pages into a single bundle. Unbound pages are returned without examination.
- File both together with the county auditor by 5 p.m. on the last day of your window. If your city lies in more than one county, file with the auditor of the county with the largest taxable base in the city (47.2). Mailed papers must be received by 5 p.m.; a postmark does not count.
Once signed, the petition and notarized affidavit cannot be altered to fix a problem. A corrected affidavit or added petition pages may be filed only before the deadline, so file early.
Withdrawals and objections. You may withdraw by Tuesday, September 21, 2027, or by Tuesday, August 31, 2027 in a primary city (based on state law). Any person who could vote for mayor may file an objection with the county auditor by 5 p.m. on the applicable date, and a county panel of the auditor, treasurer and county attorney decides it (44.7).
Step 5: Plan a citywide campaign
A mayoral race is citywide from the first day. Use the months before filing to build a volunteer team that can cover the whole city, a list of supporters who want to hear from you, and a schedule built around the fall voter dates.
The fall dates. Absentee ballots can be mailed and voted at the county auditor's office as early as Wednesday, October 13, 2027, once ballots are ready. Voter registration and absentee applications close at 5 p.m. on Monday, October 18. Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Tuesday, November 2, and a person who missed the registration deadline may register at the polls with proof of identity and residence. The dates before election day are based on state law; our Iowa 2027 city and school election calendar lists them all.
Volunteers and events. Divide the city into areas and recruit a volunteer lead for each. As an example only, ten volunteers who each knock on 50 doors a week for eight weeks would reach about 4,000 doors. At forums and events, bring a sign-up sheet that plainly asks whether each person wants campaign texts.
Step 6: Keep a citywide list of supporters informed by text
In a citywide race, texting is one of the few ways to reach every supporter quickly when absentee voting opens or plans change. Set it up in CampaignCNX+ in this order.
- Committee, EIN and Campaign Verify. Campaign Verify confirms to the carriers (the mobile phone companies) that you are a real campaign. It requires a 527 committee (the federal tax status of a political committee) with an EIN (the committee's federal tax ID number) and a filing with an election authority that is published online. Check that your committee's filing is viewable online before you request Campaign Verify, and ask Campaign Verify Support if it is not. A $95 request made on or after Sunday, November 15, 2026 lasts until January 31, 2029. Campaign Verify decides eligibility.
- Registration. CampaignCNX+ files your carrier registration, as 10DLC (the registration for texting from a standard local-style number) or toll-free, and files your Campaign Verify token with it.
- Groups for supporters and volunteers. Add only people who agreed in writing to receive your texts, and record the consent date and source in a custom field. A signature on your nomination petition is not that agreement.
- A welcome series for new volunteers. A drip sequence (a series of texts sent on a schedule) can send each new volunteer a welcome text, the next training date and a reminder before their first shift.
- Scheduled reminders. Schedule texts for the start of absentee voting, the registration deadline and election day. Texts send only between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m. in the recipient's time zone, each first message ends with "Reply STOP to opt out," and STOP replies are handled automatically.
100 free SMS included. Your number is $5 a month. For texting rules across the region, see campaign texting in the Midwest.
Start well before August
Confirm whether the mayor's seat is on the 2027 ballot and learn your city's nomination method this spring. When you are ready to reach supporters by text, start a CampaignCNX+ trial.
