Republican beats incumbent Democrat for Mayor of Indianapolis in landslide victory

News Type: Event — Seeded on Wed Nov 14, 2007 7:16 AM EST

Article Source: The Indianapolis Star

politics, election, republican, democrat, mayor, taxation, indianapolis, bart-peterson, greg-ballard

Voter unrest fueled by this summer's property and income tax increases, combined with significant Democratic defections, helped sweep Republican Greg Ballard into office.

Ballard's campaign and image -- an everyman political outsider with an impressive military pedigree -- also played well in Decatur, Perry and Franklin townships, which form the southern third of the county. The preliminary figures show he won every precinct in Decatur and Franklin, and all but two or three in Perry, carrying most of the precincts in those three townships with 60 percent or more of the vote.

This is a big dent in the confidence of Democrats who are hoping for big victories in Congress in upcoming elections. Republicans are finally showing that they're prepare to fight, and win, in upcoming elections. People are simply fed up with higher taxes and Indianapolis made their voices heard at the ballot box.

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Dr Danny's Column, All of Newsvine
Groups: Republican, rightwingers
Regions: Indianapolis

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5.7

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Dr Danny

Retiree Don Storer, who lives in the 5800 block of Washington Boulevard, felt it firsthand. After voting for Peterson in the past two elections, he turned to Ballard last week. Living on a fixed income, the 63-year-old said, meant property tax increases were a major factor. "We got hit with a 300 percent increase in 2003 and another 200 percent increase this year," Storer said...Storer said he was offended by the way the mayor and council made the changes. "I was just appalled at the way it was pushed through with little deliberation," he said. "I would hope that when the Republicans are in control, they will at least listen to both sides, even though they know they have the votes to get something passed."

No one likes higher taxes. But Democrats seem to love spending loads of money that doesn't belong to them. It was there downfall in Indianapolis and could well be their downfall in upcoming Congressional and Presidential elections.

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3 votes

#1 - Wed Nov 14, 2007 7:20 AM EST

{"commentId":1184211,"authorDomain":"jasonford"}

Jason Ford

I was shocked when I was watching the returns to see how big a lead Ballard was building. It didn't help that Peterson started to go negative with his ads toward the end of the election. I live about an hour away so I couldn't vote but I know those ads turned me off.

A friend of mine is the state legislature and he is hoping a new mayor will help end some of the gridlock they face. He said more than half of their time is spent on issues facing Indianapolis.

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2 votes

#2 - Wed Nov 14, 2007 8:45 AM EST

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Dr Danny

Peterson's negative ads really hurt him, it gave Ballard name recognition he didn't have previously. When I was in Indiana a few weeks ago people were getting really annoyed with increasing property taxes and a lot of them were blaming Peterson. Indianapolis has a lot going for it - a new airport terminal, a new stadium, big department stores etc. but now it needs someone like Ballard, who has no political baggage, to really get things going for a great city.

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2 votes

#2.1 - Wed Nov 14, 2007 9:45 AM EST

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DR DANNY

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Republican beats incumbent Democrat for Mayor of Indianapolis in landslide victory

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