
Waterloo At-Large City Council Candidates Jonathan Grieder and Steve Simon. The two will face off in a Dec. 5 run-off.
The Dec. 5 run-off election in Waterloo will be a match-up between a progressive voice on the city council who fights for LGBTQ protections and one who “clearly doesn’t.”
That’s according to Jonathan Grieder, the progressive voice in that race and the current Ward 2 representative on the Waterloo City Council. He gave up his seat this election to run for the citywide at-large seat this year. (Dave Boesen, the incumbent at-large councilor, successfully ran for Grieder’s Ward 2 seat unopposed.)
Grieder went up against three others for that seat in the Nov. 7 election. None of the four candidates reached the 50% threshold, meaning the top two vote-getters head to a run-off election on Tuesday, Dec. 5.
Those two candidates are Grieder, who garnered 2,194 votes (almost 34%), and Steve Simon, who took 2,923 votes (nearly 45%).
Simon did not respond to Starting Line’s request for comment. However, he told the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier he thought there were “a lot of dynamics to be played out and hard campaigning by both of us … It’s a whole new election.”
Conversion therapy ban
One of the stark differences between Grieder and Simon is their views on conversion therapy, a widely discredited practice that targets LGBTQ youth and seeks to change their sexual or gender identities.
Grieder introduced an ordinance to ban conversion therapy on minors in Waterloo, which passed on a 6-1 vote in May. Boesen was the lone “no” vote.
That ordinance was short-lived, however. After the city was threatened with an expensive lawsuit by Florida-based, anti-LGBTQ group Liberty Counsel, the city council in August voted to repeal it on a 4-3 vote.
Grieder and two other council members voted against repeal, saying at the time the council “shouldn’t give up just because we don’t like the odds.”
Months later, Grieder told Starting Line he was “having conversations with other partners to continue to have this conversation.” Simon, by contrast, said after the repeal that the ordinance “should not have happened in the first place.”
“We should not be getting between children, parents, and their health professionals,” Simon said in a release.
LGBTQ support
Grieder alleged Simon was “surrounded by folks who are anti-LGBTQ,” including “the folks who donate to him from my former colleague” and “his campaign manager.”
Simon’s campaign chair is Jacob Tayloe of Waterloo. Simon was endorsed by former Waterloo police chief and current Black Hawk County supervisor Dan Trelka, as well as Black Hawk County Sheriff Tony Thompson, per his website.
Simon also received a donation and endorsement from former councilor Margaret Klein, according to financial disclosures. Klein, who lost her bid for mayor in 2022, voted against a 2020 resolution encouraging the state of Iowa to ban conversion therapy for minors and called the most recent ordinance the “Parental Interference Transgender ordinance” on her Facebook page.
Grieder, meanwhile, has received donations from Mayor Quentin Hart and former councilor Pat Morrissey. Grieder also received a sizeable donation from Aliya Rahman, a Waterloo resident who spoke in favor of LGBTQ rights during the debate to repeal the ban.
“Frankly, I am more than happy that Mr. Simon wants to make the distinction that there’s one person in this race who cares about every kid in Waterloo, and there’s one person who clearly doesn’t,” Grieder said.
“I have stood up for LGBTQ folks. I am proud of the fight that we had on the conversion therapy ban,” he continued. “We need only look at what the state is doing to showcase what happens when we have policymakers who don’t like LGBTQ people and what that can mean.”
Find more information about voting in the Dec. 5 run-off election here.
Support Our Cause
Thank you for taking the time to read our work. Before you go, we hope you'll consider supporting our values-driven journalism, which has always strived to make clear what's really at stake for Iowans and our future.
Since day one, our goal here at Iowa Starting Line has always been to empower people across the state with fact-based news and information. We believe that when people are armed with knowledge about what's happening in their local, state, and federal governments—including who is working on their behalf and who is actively trying to block efforts aimed at improving the daily lives of Iowan families—they will be inspired to become civically engaged.


Iowa Republicans advance law that could expose drag performances to obscenity lawsuits
Republicans are pushing to open obscenity laws in hopes of making it easier to sue drag performers. Senate File 116, a bill that follows long-time...

Students: ISU LGBTQ Center turned into ‘generic study lab’ by IA Republicans’ DEI law
Iowa Republicans' decision to restrict DEI programs means the loss of one university's LGBTQ+ center, where students have found friendship and...

Cornhole Champions #1 – Recounting the count
Iowa Democrats didn't exactly get points on the board in 2024. But it's not all bad news. Toss the bags with us as we get a temperature check on...

Attack on LGBTQ+ student group enabled by Iowa’s anti-LGBTQ+ bills
Linn-Mar's LGBTQ+ student group was attacked at the school's homecoming parade. Here's why the Iowa Legislature is on the hook. What do you remember...

Iowa AG defends other states discriminating against trans athletes
Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird has now joined a group of states to defend laws discriminating against transgender athletes in Idaho and West...

Here’s why Iowa students won’t have new Title IX protections
Iowa students, including transgender and nonbinary children, will not enjoy new federal Title IX protections at school because Iowa Attorney General...