In a close election, Steve Zittergruen wins the 5th Ward Decorah seat

Decorah 5th Ward Interim City Council Member Steven Zittergruen can now remove the "interim" word from his title.

Zittergruen had been appointed to fill te unexpired portion of Johanna Bergan's term when Bergan moved out of the 5th Ward.  On Tuesday, Zittergruen won a special election for the seat.

282 votes were cast in the special election, with two ballots declared "undervotes" and not counted.  Zittergruen received 146 votes, while his opponent, Tim Felton, received 134 votes--a 52 percent/48 percent split.  The 282 ballots cast represented 26.88 percent of registered voters in the ward.

Following the election, Zittergruen released a statement: "I am humbled and thrilled that the voters have trusted me to continue the work I've been doing on City Council. I am grateful to Tim Felton for volunteering for public service, and I admire the strong campaign he ran. I look forward to continuing to do my best to ensure that all Ward 5 residents are well-represented."