Low voter turnout led to some razor thin margins in Elkhart on Election Night, but full unofficial results changed a five to four democratic majority on the council into an 8-1 margin.
In the city’s 1st District Aaron Mishler won by just six votes over Republican Nicole Read. And in at-large contests, Democrats Tonda Hines and Arvis Dawson bested Republican incumbents by just 14 and 18 votes respectively.
Other races were more straightforward with incumbents winning and one uncontested contest.
Chad Crabtree is the chair of the Elkhart County Democratic Party and he said Tuesday night’s results were largely the outcome of the popularity of mayor Rod Roberson voters believing in his vision for the city.
“I think our candidates were much more qualified, more experienced versus the other side,” Crabtree said. “Especially under the leadership of Rod Roberson, citizens of Elkhart like the way the city is moving.”
Roberson ran unopposed this cycle and will serve a second term as Elkhart’s mayor, while Crabtree also ran unopposed in the 2nd District.
Crabtree also pointed to the fact that the three Democratic at-large candidates were recognizable names. Arvis Dawson is the current council president. Tonda Hines is a former council member in the 6th District and Alex Holtz narrowly lost his race for the council in 2019.
Meanwhile Republican Party chair Dan Holtz also pointed to the mayor’s race, or lack thereof, as an explanation for the party’s poor showing. Holtz harkened back to Tim Neese’s decision not to run for reelection in 2019 amid the uncovering of widespread misconduct in the Elkhart Police Department as a turning point for the party, who have since lacked a strong candidate at the top of the ticket.
“This time we couldn’t find anyone willing to run as mayor of Elkhart,” Holtz said. “And when you don’t have a strong top of the ticket, it hurts obviously all the way down.”
Both Holtz and Crabtree also pointed to the lack of contested mayor’s race in Elkhart as a driver behind record-low voter turnout that saw fewer than 20% of registered voters cast a ballot.
“Just the generalized decline of political engagement from citizens. It is an annual theme that turnout in these elections is shockingly low,” Holtz said.
Interestingly, Neese continued to affect this year’s election as he won the Republican primary for the 2nd District race back in May. However Holtz said that Neese withdrew his name for consideration over the summer, leaving the party without enough time to put up another candidate.
The end result was Crabtree running unopposed and becoming the first Democrat to win Elkhart’s 2nd District in over 50 years.
“That speaks to the peculiar evolution of public engagement,” Holtz said. “I can’t nor can the people in the party I spoke to, remember when primary victors withdrew their names.”
In addition to Neese, two Republican candidates in Goshen also withdrew after the primaries, forcing the party to caucus in new people.
Republican Debra Barrett won an unopposed race for reelection as city clerk, but now the sole Republican on the city’s council is David Henke, who has made a name as an antagonist and recently filed a police report against fellow council member Democrat Dwight Fish.
Henke called the election results a “bitter pill” on social media, adding that he’s “sad for the lack of accountability and transparency.”
Holtz, however, is more hopeful, saying that city elections in Elkhart have been volatile the last few cycles. As recently as 2015, Republicans held the council by a 7-2 margin.
“I’m looking forward to the next election where I’m confident that we will do better,” said Holtz.
