The Blue Wave that was forecast nationally swept up St. Joseph County too.
Watching the returns come in at CJ’s Pub downtown South Bend, Democrats were experiencing something they haven’t seen in a while. Winning.
County Democratic Party Chair Don Westerhausen had their attention as the first concrete returns came in.
“We don’t have all the votes so this is somewhat preliminary, but it looks for all the county offices, the Democrats have run the table.”
For county commissioner, Democrat Bill Redman defeated incumbent Republican Carl Baxmeyer 58 to 42%. For sheriff, Democrat Scott Ruszkowski beat Republican Rod Laureys, 63 to 37%.
On the county council, Democrats picked up three seats, with Mike Hamann beating incumbent Joe Thomas 56 to 45%, Jan Cervelli beating Jamie O’Brien 52 to 48%, and Ranjan Rohatgi beating Amy Drake 57 to 43%.
Redman said he was feeling grateful. He said he wasn’t surprised Democrats fared well but he wasn’t quite expecting this.
“I just felt that the energy kept building and building. I didn’t think I would see what we saw here tonight but this is pretty amazing.”
Redman’s win means Democrats will have a majority of county commissioner seats for the first time in 20 years.
Democrats won all St. Joseph County offices on the ballot. Autumn Kaylor beat Republican Abby Doyle 57 to 43%. Chief Deputy Prosecutor Amy Cressy defeated Republican John Maciejczyk 60 to 40%. Stephanie Ball beat Republican Amy Rolfes 57 to 43%. And Vic Cummings defeated Republican incumbent Mike Castellon for assessor.
The county council will shift from a 5-4 Republican advantage to a 7-2 Democratic majority.
Democrat Ranjan Rohatgi, a Saint Mary’s College math teacher running for office for the first time, knocked off Republican Amy Drake for county council. Rohatgi was one of three victorious Democrats in council races, joining Jan Cervelli and Mike Hamann.
”Local politics especially has become so nationalized and people don’t need the county council fighting, discussing culture war issues,” Rohatgi said. “They need the county council focused on what matters to people here, which was data centers, which was public education, which was the cost of housing.”
Cervelli says the Democrats’ success was about more than just disdain for Republican President Donald Trump.
“When I knocked on 2,300 doors in Granger, Trump’s name never came up,” Cervelli said. “What it is is the nuts and bolts issues that people are concerned about in St. Joe County. Data centers was number one. They want to have more sense of local control. They’re worried about water, environmental quality. They want real, long-term jobs. Sustainable jobs.”
Hamann said he wasn’t even feeling cautiously optimistic coming into the day.
“I thought if I was going to win I was going to squeak through, so I didn’t see the margin of victory here,” Hamann said. “So I’m just kind of overwhelmed to be totally honest with you.”
