Doland Accepts Republican Nomination

Mark Doland speaks to his fellow Republicans after being nominated Thursday night.

Oskaloosa, Iowa – For a second night in a row, a candidate was chosen to represent their party in the upcoming special election. This election will decide who will fill the supervisor seat that is left vacant after Ken Rozenboom’s resignation takes effect January 11th, 2013.

The Mahaska County Republican Party chose Mark Doland to represent them on the ballot. He will be facing his Democrat counterpart, Tom Rielly.

Two Republicans were seeking the nomination, Doland and former Mahaska County Supervisor Joe Warrick. Both addressed the 48 delegates after their nominations.

Doland says he has a very short time to get a team put into place, “I have some things in place that I’ve been working on ahead of time.”

Doland explained that he’s got people ready to help him door knock and make phone calls on his behalf. “It will be a grassroots campaign, and we’re going to try and get our message out.”

Doland acknowledges that in special elections, name recognition “is a big deal. I do have some name recognition as well, and I’m going to try to get my message out there and stand firm on my convictions.”

According to Doland, he moved to the area in 2005. He and his wife, along with their 4 children, live here and his children attend the Oskaloosa Christian School.

Doland, who works as a counselor in Oskaloosa, is the minister at a local church, as well as another church in Knoxville.

His past political experience includes being on the Fremont School Board, as well as campaign manager for Danny Carroll. He worked with Bob Vander Plaats as a pastors coalition director and was field director for the Michele Bachmann campaign in Iowa.

The special election will take place on January 29th.