Wearing a bright green tie-dye shirt with the words “Vote Sullivan” written boldly across his chest, Johnson County Supervisor Rod Sullivan has spent the past several months introducing himself to voters in a way he never had to before — campaigning within a newly drawn district rather than across the county.
Due to a change in state law in December 2025 that established five supervisor districts within Johnson County, incumbents and newcomers running for the board must now campaign and seek votes within their specific districts rather than countywide, fundamentally changing how elections for the Board of Supervisors are conducted.
Sullivan was drawn into District Four, which spans across downtown Iowa City and is the county’s only district represented by two sitting supervisors. He will face fellow Supervisor V Fixmer-Oraiz in the Democratic primary on June 2 as both compete to represent the newly created district. No one is vying for the Republican nomination in the district…