Looking up at large whiteboards (hung just for the occasion), and listening to the results from each of the county’s 15 precincts, candidates gathered on the second floor of the Putnam County Courthouse to hear their fates.
The stakes of 2015’s off-year election proved to be significant in part because of current Greencastle mayor Sue Murray’s decision not to run for re-election. As well as the increase in size of Greencastle’s city council from five to seven seats.
Candidates with ties to DePauw University, for the majority, fared well. Former DePauw administrator, and husband of out-going mayor Sue Murray, David Murray, along with Economics and Management professor, Gary Lemon, both won their bids for City Council At-large seats.
“I hope we all work together and keep Greencastle moving forward,” Lemon told the Banner Graphic. “It’s a great city and I just want to keep the momentum going forward. I’ve been elected at-large and I view the whole city. We’re going to try to do what’s best for the whole city, not just a particular section.”
1st Ward councilor and DePauw swim coach, Adam Cohen, fought off his Republican challenger, Danny Mesecher to win re-election by a mere 17 votes.
“I feel honored and privileged that the citizens entrusted me to keep moving the city forward,” Cohen said to the Banner Graphic. “Despite a little bit of partisan rhetoric that I found disappointing during this election, that is not the way this council works. We have not had a split vote in the last seven years. I think when we get in there, we don’t look at each other that way. It’s about creating the best community for the citizens of Greencastle.”
Not all candidates with DePauw ties were successful. On the losing end was Clerk-Treasurer candidate, and DePauw’s former director for fraternity life, Eric Wolfe.
Despite a strong campaign effort Wolfe came up short where it mattered, he lost to incumbent clerk-treasurer, Linda Dunbar.
However, DePauw professor of Political Science, Bruce Stinebrickner, doesn’t see the split council as a problem for the city. Democrats hold a slight 4-3 advantage, while keeping the mayor’s office, but Republicans hold onto the Clerk-Treasurer.
"Candidate David Murray made a point at the WGRE/LWV debate of saying,’we have not put Democrat on any of our campaign literature,” Stinebrickner said. “In the campaign, Democrats never called themselves Democrats, which is pretty surprising given that I think Democrats may have a registration advantage in the city. So I don’t think the partisanship will much matter much."
Voter turnout across the county was higher than usual—approximately 28% of registered voters cast their ballots on Tuesday. The higher than normal number could bode well moving forward.
"If not pivotal, this is an election that will probably set the stage for Greencastle city politics and government for the next eight or ten years,” Stinebrickner said. “This is not your ordinary, run-of-the-mill election.”