Incumbent Elaine Wagner surprised people in 2015 when as a Democrat she won the City Council District 2 seat. Four years later, she’s done it again, this time defeating Republican challenger Jim Hartsook by a 19.61% margin.
Wagner, 33, received 866 votes, or nearly 59.81% of the vote, against Hartsook, 42, who received 592 votes, or 40.19%.
“Columbus won tonight,” Wagner said. “Everybody who ran cares about this community. This feels so good, so bittersweet. Tom made it through. Grace made it through.”
Wagner, an account manager at Cummins Inc., was elected to the council in 2015, ending a four-year struggle for the local Democratic party to win a contested race in the city.
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Describing herself as civic-minded, Wagner has always served on nonprofit boards and been involved in the community she was raised in, but it wasn’t until her mentors suggested she run for Columbus City Council that she ever gave political service a thought.
During her first four-year term, Wagner said she has grown in a myriad of ways, both in her knowledge of local government and as a public official.
Wagner said she is sad for her friends who didn’t win their respected races Tuesday, but she said that’s the way politics works.
“Everybody at the end of the day shakes hands and says, ‘Job well done,’” Wagner said.
Wagner said her areas of focus during her second term on city council will be ensuring the city has enough resources to support the community’s projects in the right way, and helping in the city’s efforts to bring more affordable, safe housing to the community with improved infrastructure.
Hartsook is no novice to how local government works, but his 2019 campaign was his first run for a political office. Hartsook is known for serving several years as Bartholomew County’s information technology director before he was hired by Columbus Regional Hospital. He has also held various roles for the city of Columbus, including a parks manager and a brief stint on the Columbus Parks Board.
“I’m at peace with what happened,” Hartsook said. “It’s not the result we wanted, but I wish Elaine the best. If she does well, our district does well,” Hartsook said.
Hartsook did not visit any polling sites Tuesday, calling voting a “private thing to go in and do.” He said he’s not a fan of obstructing people’s view of getting into the polls.
If elected, Hartsook said in an earlier interview he would have liked to improve the city’s infrastructure, as well as expand offerings on the city’s geographic information system (GIS). He said it’s too early to know if he’ll consider another run in the future.
Wagner said Hartsook put up a great race and thanked him for his efforts.
“We gave people options and they got really great people to choose from,” she said. “That’s what I wanted. I hope he continues to stay involved and do good things for Columbus and help people out.”
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Columbus City Council District 2
Elaine Wagner (D);866
Jim Hartsook (R);582
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