Board Picks Blake to Fill District Two Vacancy

Nathan Blake will fill the District 2 seat on the Des Moines School Board.

In a special meeting this evening, the Des Moines School Board picked Nathan Blake to fill its District 2 seat. Blake will be officially sworn into office on Tuesday, March 3.

The vacancy was created earlier this month with the resignation of Toussaint Cheatom. Blake will serve until September, when a candidate will be elected during the regular School Board election to fill the remaining two years of the District 2 term.

On Monday of this week, the Board interviewed four finalists for the seat. In addition to Blake, they were Ramon Christopher, Ed Linebach and Thatcher Williams.

Blake is currently an assistant attorney general for the State of Iowa. Previously he served as a special assistant at the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Washington, DC, worked for Obama for American in the 2008 election cycle, and was an associate with the Belin McCormick law firm in Des Moines.

He earned his undergraduate degree from Union College in Nebraska and holds a master’s degree from the Yale Divinity School. He is also a graduate of Yale Law School.

Blake serves on the Des Moines Zoning Board of Adjustment, the Oakridge Board of Directors, and the Sherman Hills Neighborhood Association Board.

Click here to download a copy of Blake’s letter of interest and resume. Click here to see Blake’s interview with the School Board.