For a municipal election, voter turnout was high both on and before Election Day in Hamilton County, and the GOP came out strong.
A total of 16,202 people voted straight-ticket Republican, compared to 7,617 voting straight-ticket Democrat. The result across the county reflected that disparity. Of the four total offices held by Democrats in Hamilton County, as of January there will be only two. Democrat Dr. Anita Joshi won over Loren Matthes in Carmel’s West District, and Bill Stuart won against David Giffel in the Fishers Southwest District.
Overall voter turnout was much higher than it was four years ago, with 68,701 votes cast this time (27.02 percent of registered voters). In 2019 only 34,571 ballots were cast (15.62 percent of registered voters).
Across the board, only four incumbents are returning to the Carmel City Council. Five new faces will sit on council in January, along with a new mayor: Sue Finkam, who defeated Miles Nelson by a wide margin.
In Fishers, six incumbents will return while three new council members will take seats in January.
There are zero returning incumbents in Westfield. Victor McCarty could be considered the only one, though he was caucused into his seat earlier this year, making this his first general election for a seat on the council.
Dr. Anita Joshi takes the seat previously occupied by Miles Nelson on Carmel City Council, keeping that a Democratic seat with a new face.
And then there were the school referendums.
While they passed in Camel, Hamilton Southeastern, and Sheridan districts, Sheridan showed overwhelming support with nearly 82 percent voting in favor.
Click here to see full results from Tuesday’s general election. Please note that while these are “final” results, they do still have to be certified by the Hamilton County Election Board in the days to come.
Hamilton County party leadership speaks
The Reporter reached out to both Republican and Democratic party chairs on Election night. Their comments are below.
Colbert
Hamilton County Democratic Party Chair Dayna Colbert
I want to pass along that we’re extremely grateful for the candidates, the campaign staff, the volunteers, and the voters who supported everybody. It didn’t turn out the way that we wanted, but we are encouraged by what we were able to achieve in this election.
We’re going to celebrate the ones that we got with Dr. Anita Joshi and Bill Stuart. We’re going to reassess what happens and then in a couple days we’re looking forward to 2024. We’ve already been talking to potential candidates for next year, and we’re going to be focusing on building them up and candidate recruitment and development.
Massillamany
Hamilton County Republican Party Chair Mario Massillamany
This shows that Hamilton County residents do not like liberal extremism. Voters like local Republicans because we make sure that our communities are great. That’s all we focus on. We make sure that our families are protected, our taxes are low, and our amenities are great for our community.
That has proven to be a winning recipe for local Republicans in Hamilton County for generations.
My focus since I took office was to make sure that Republican mindset changes and that we need to start voting early. When the early voting numbers came back that showed what early voting and absentee ballot numbers were, I knew that it was going to be a huge night for us. The key for us was to make sure that we did well in early and absentee ballot voting. We clearly showed that Republicans are starting to vote early or through absentee ballot, and they’re changing their mentality and not just waiting out for Election Day.
The state Democrat Party came into Hamilton County and said they were going to take over Carmel and take over Fishers. They spent time, money, manpower, and resources in trying to take over Carmel and Fishers. Hamilton County residents – Fishers and Carmel residents – did not like what the state party and what national Democrats were trying to do to Fishers and Carmel.