A historic flip of the Columbus City Council in which Democrats took control for the first time since 1983 has members of both parties reflecting on how Columbus voters made their choices and why.
On Tuesday, local Democrats picked up two council seats, acquiring a 4-3 majority on the council. Democrat Jerone Wood won the District 1 seat, defeating incumbent Republican Dascal Bunch by one vote. Democrat Grace Kestler also earned her first term on the council after winning one of the city council at-large seats.
The new council, barring any changes after a possible recount in District 1, will be comprised of Democrats Wood and Kestler, incumbents Elaine Wagner and Tom Dell, along with Republicans David Bush, Tim Shuffett and Frank Miller.
Bob Hyatt, chair of the Bartholomew County Democratic Party, said the results were the result of hard work and a rekindled energy within the Democratic Party.
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“My biggest takeaway is that good candidates are really important, and that’s what the community is really looking for,” Hyatt said. “The national folks are looking for some underlying indication that this is people showing up to vote against (President Donald) Trump or (Vice President Mike) Pence, and I just don’t think that’s the case. The candidates that won, and all of our candidates did well, because they were good candidates, they worked hard to connect with the people and the community voted for them.”
The 2016 presidential election was a source of motivation for more people to get involved in local politics, but that wasn’t what got Democrats elected, Hyatt said.
“Where the energy at a root level is coming from is the election of Donald Trump to be president,” Hyatt said. “We had a lot of people that were disappointed in that election and they are really disappointed in the direction the country is going. That, in my opinion, is the underlying thing that is driving base level energy of the (Democratic) party.”
Barb Hackman, Bartholomew County Republican Party chairwoman, said Tuesday’s results surprised her “a little bit,” adding that Bartholomew County is still a “Republican stronghold.”
“It’s a wake-up call,” Hackman said. “We need to get out there and work a lot harder to make sure we get the voters to come out and vote.”
“The Democrats, they worked hard,” Hackman said. “They came in and they were ready. We maybe got a little complacent. We’re such a strong Republican county, and normally, as a Republican, you had an easier time winning (here).”
Columbus Mayor Jim Lienhoop, a Republican who ran unopposed in Tuesday’s general election, said he wasn’t “completely surprised” by the Democrat’s successful night.
“(The Democrats) recruited some great candidates and got behind them,” Lienhoop said. “I’m not surprised they had some success because that is a common recipe for success. …Elections are decided by the people who show up and vote, and the Democrats did a good job of getting their voters out and, like I said, they had some compelling candidates for people to vote for. So (I’m) not completely surprised by the result.”
Lienhoop also said he feels optimistic that the Republicans and Democrats on the council will still work together on city issues and projects, including the FairOaks Mall project, Riverfront project and the downtown convention center.
“Even though we have four Democrats now, I don’t know that D’s and R’s make a lot of difference at the municipal level,” Lienhoop said. “What we will have is five incumbents returning. So of the seven city council members, five will return and I think that says from the electorate, from the voters, that they’re generally happy with the way that the city is moving and want that to continue.”
National spotlight
The Columbus City Council election made national headlines on Wednesday, with some coverage casting the Columbus City Council election within the context of the 2020 U.S. presidential race — a narrative that local Democratic and Republican party leaders dispute.
Under the headline, “Democrats take control of Mike Pence’s hometown for first time in nearly four decades,” Newsweek ran an article suggesting that “a blue wave” had “swept across” Columbus.
The Associated Press ran a story titled “1 vote gives Democrats council control in Pence’s hometown” that was reprinted by The New York Times, The Washington Post and many other news outlets across the country.
The Washington Post republished a photograph of Wood and District 3 Democratic candidate Katea Ravega celebrating Wood’s one-vote victory at Hotel Indigo on Tuesday night.
Actress Bette Midler also weighed in on the Columbus City Council election, tweeting, “Mike Pence’s hometown #FLIPPED!”
Hyatt rejected the national media narrative, saying that local voters went to the polls thinking about which candidates would be best for the community, not who is occupying the Oval Office.
“It was not an anti-Trump or anti-Pence vote,” Hyatt said. “It was a vote for the community and a vote for good candidates.”
Hackman also said that she disagreed with the national narrative.
“We still have three seats, it’s not like we didn’t do anything,” Hackman said. “And the one that lost us the majority was by one vote. One vote and we would have had the majority.”
“I think we still are very, very much a Republican community,” she added. “I hear that from a lot of people. The local Republican Party still very much has a stronghold in the county…”
Lienhoop said he was not concerned about the national media attention.
“We’ve dealt with spotlights off and on for years,” Lienhoop said. “We had a pretty heavy spotlight turned on us when Mike Pence became vice president. You know, it’s like the old saying, ‘you’d rather be looked over than overlooked,’ and so if people want to take a look at Columbus and what’s going on here, we welcome that.”
Hackman congratulated all of the candidates and is confident that the Republicans will regroup.
“We’ll be better prepared (next time), I’ll tell you that,” she said.
