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.
Describing herself as civic-minded, Wagner had 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.
For more on this story, see Wednesday’s Republic.
