See what happens when you don’t vote?
With Republicans taking the mayor’s office as well as control of the City-County Council, Tuesday’s general election was perhaps the most stunning upset in decades. The shock-factor of the election can be attributed to a variety of things, however two items at the top of the list are: (1) Democratic incumbents took their constituents’ vote for granted and (2) Voters were complacent and didn’t vote.
The mayoral race was the largest upset. Democrat incumbent Bart Peterson was bested by his Republican opponent Greg Ballard. Ballard, a former marine and educator has no previous political experience and failed at providing the community with tangible solutions to the problems he publicly blamed Peterson for during the campaign. In addition, Ballard had only $300,000 in his campaign compared to Peterson’s $3 million.
This week’s mayoral defeat speaks volumes. It first proves that money doesn’t buy votes and that the size of one’s campaign bank account can have little impact on the end result. The defeat also shows exactly how tired the public is with the current administration. People want a change and regardless of whether Ballard can actually walk the walk is beside the point right now because at least he’s walking.
Ballard’s campaign slogan “Had enough?” is a summation of what the people are feeling right now. Indianapolis residents would rather elect a political novice without a tangible results-oriented agenda than keep an experienced and proven leader in office. Why? Because people are tired. Though the increase in property taxes wasn’t the fault of Peterson, he certainly got punished for it. Ballard played the blame game and even though he didn’t explain how he’d make things better; his strategy worked and now he’s mayor-elect.
The other upsetting element of Tuesday’s election was that of the City-County Council race. Previous mainstays such as long-term council member Rozelle Boyd, Lonnell “King Ro” Conley, and Ron Gibson will leave office at year’s end to make room for the new Republican-controlled council.
I think the community was displeased with the behavior some council members demonstrated or were said to exhibit. If you hold a position as public as the council, it’s important to always present yourself appropriately and behave accordingly. Apparently, because of the shift in votes, people disapproved of some of the questionable and subjective aspects of current council members.
Many of the upsets could have easily worked in favor of the Democrats if more efforts were made early on. The community isn’t as naïve as many may think and last-minute attempts to get the votes of local residents has proved a highly ineffective strategy.
This year’s election also sends a strong message to the Democratic Party as a whole. That message is “shape up, or ship out.” The party’s leadership needs to have a serious conversation with incumbents and work on a plan to regain the community’s trust as well as the community’s vote. It’s going to involve a serious rejuvenation from the inside out. The public has spoken and their words are loud and clear. Local residents have had enough and their votes are reflective of the heart-felt frustration.
Mayor Peterson has done some exceptional things for the city of Indianapolis over the past eight years so Ballard has some fairly large shoes to fill. For the next couple of months Ballard has to think of a detailed plan to “fix” what he’s taunted as a broken city. Now is the time to institute action. Hopefully things will work for the good of the people — all people, including those whose voices typically aren’t heard. However, if things don’t work out, we’ve got four years to remember why we all should exercise our right to vote.
