2007 South Bend Mayoral Election

Mayoral elections are held in South Bend, Indiana for the city's mayor every four years in the year immediately preceding that of United States presidential elections. South Bend held its first mayoral election in 1865, the year in which the city was incorporated (electing William G. George, its first mayor). This first mayoral election took place in early June 1865, only two weeks after the formal incorporation of the city.

Elections before 1963

1963

The 1963 South Bend, Indiana mayoral election was held on November 5, 1963. It saw the election of Republican nominee Lloyd M. Allen.

Incumbent Democrat Frank J. Bruggner, who had reluctantly assumed the office after Edward F. Voorde's death in an automobile accident, did not seek reelection to the office.

This is the last time that a non-incumbent Republican won a South Bend mayoral election.

Primaries

Democratic primary

Two candidates faced each other in the Democratic primary. Paul Krueper was favored by voters on the East Side and had the support of the Democratic establishment. However, Eugene Pajakowki was favored by voters on the West Side, which had a significant Polish-American vote at the time. The South Bend Tribune's political writer at the time, James Carroll, described the primary the two men waged as being, "one of the meanest in Democratic history". Krueper prevailed in the primary, but the ugliness of the primary had split the party. The party largely split along geographic lines, the city's East Side versus its West Side.

Republican primary

City Judge Lloyd M. Allen won a large victory in the Republican primary, which saw sizable turnout.

General election

While a Democratic city, at the time, South Bend was more competitive in its mayoral elections than it is today. A Republican had last won a mayoral election in 1951, and one had come close in the narrow 1955 election (losing a close race to Edward F. Voorde).

The election took place in the direct aftermath of the announcement that Studebaker, a major South Bend employer, would be closing its operations in the city.

Allen criticized the incumbent Democratic-run city administration for the poor condition of the city's streets, and promised that, if elected, he would institute a massive program to repave the city's roads. Allen also campaigned in areas of West Side that were Democratic strongholds and had typically been neglected by Republican candidates.

Allen won a landslide victory. and picked up 5 of the city's 6 districts. Allen's victory has been attributed to the split in the Democratic party following its fractious primary.

1967

The 1967 South Bend, Indiana mayoral election was held on November 7, 1967. It saw the reelection of incumbent Republican Lloyd M. Allen.

This is the last time that a Republican has won a South Bend mayoral election.

Nominations

Republicans re-nominated incumbent mayor Lloyd M. Allen.

Democrats nominated Eugene Pajakowki, who had unsuccessfully sought their nomination four years earlier.

Two independent candidates were also running.

General election

While, during his first term, Allen had received some criticism (including from some prominent city Republicans) for the amount of spending his government had undertaken, despite the city having just lost the major employer Studebaker. Allen defended his spending by declaring that citizens were okay with paying for necessary improvements, so long as they saw actual results.

Allen was endorsed for reelection by The South Bend Reformer newspaper.

Allen won a strong reelection, winning by a 10,500 vote margin. Allen received strong support from the city's African American wards. Allen even received a surprising number of votes in the heavily-Democratic 2nd and 6th wards.

Allen's victory had an arguable coattail effect, with Republican City Clerk nominee Cecil Blough winning his race.

1971

The 1971 South Bend, Indiana mayoral election was held on November 2, 1971. The election was won by Democratic nominee Jerry Miller.

Incumbent Republican mayor Lloyd M. Allen opted against running for a third term.

This election ushered in an era of continuous Democratic control of the mayor's office in South Bend, which continues to this day.

Nominations

Democratic primary

Democrats nominated Jerry Miller, a St. Joseph County Commissioner who had served as President of the County Commissioners.

Republican primary

Republicans nominated Common Council member Janet Allen (of no familial relation to then-incumbent mayor Lloyd M. Allen). Janet Allen was a conservative Republican who had regularly clashed with the more moderate Republican Lloyd M. Allen during his mayoralty, criticizing him on spending and taxes. Janet Allen had been the first woman ever elected to the South Bend Common Council when she was elected in 1963.

The Republican primary had been a divisive one, with a battle being waged between the cities moderate and conservative Republican Party wings.

General election

The Republican Party remained divided after its primary.

Janet Allen would have been the first woman to be elected mayor of South Bend had she won the election. , no woman has been elected mayor of South Bend.

Jerry Miller had previously been on a study commission to examine a restructuring of the St. Joseph County and South Bend governments. Carrying some of the ideas he had adopted support for during his role on this study commission, Miller campaigned as a proponent of implementing a cabinet form of governance to South Bend's mayor's office Once elected, Miller successfully would re-organize the mayorship. In what was the largest restructuring of a local government in Indiana since Indianapolis' Unigov, the Indiana State Legislature passed legislation authorizing South Bend to restructure its government as such, and South Bend passed legislation to do so, reorganizing many governmental entities into six departments with heads appointed by the mayor.

Miller defeated allen by roughly 10,500 votes, nearly identical to the margin by which Republican Lloyd M. Allen won in the 1967 election. Over 48,000 people voted.

1975

The 1975 South Bend, Indiana mayoral election was held on November 4, 1975. The election was won by Democratic nominee Peter Nemeth, who had unseated the incumbent Democratic mayor, Jerry Miller, in the party's primary.

Nominations

Democratic primary

Democratic incumbent Jerry Miller was unseated in the primary, being defeated by common council member Peter Nemeth. Nemeth's victory was considered an upset.

In the municipal Democratic primaries, 27,330 votes were cast, which set a record high for a South Bend municipal primary.

Republican primary

John Slafkosky won the Republican nomination.

Also seeking the Republican nomination was George Williams Jr. Williams was the first black man to run for mayor of South Bend. Williams was a community organizer.

Independent candidates

Ronald R. Kronewittier ran as an independent candidate.

General election

Due to the strength of the Democratic Party, his upset primary victory, and his popularity as a common council member, Nemeth was favored to win. He ultimately won a landslide victory.

1979

The 1979 South Bend, Indiana mayoral election was held on November 6, 1979. It saw the election Democratic nominee Roger Parent.

Nominations

Primary elections were held May 8.

Democratic primary

Roger Parent won the Democratic primary.

Parent won roughly 6,500 votes. The runner-up was St. Joseph County engineer William J. Richardson, who lost to Parent by a roughly 800 vote margin. Third-place finisher was George E. Herendeen, who had roughly 1,400 fewer votes than Parent had received. Fourth place finisher was Mary Chris Adams, who received roughly 1,800 fewer votes than Parent had received.

Parent had been the front-runner since launching his campaign. His strategy placed strong hoes on winning the vote in his own city council district.

Republican primary

H. Chris Overgaard was unopposed in the Republican mayoral primary, receiving roughly only 2,100 votes, which was described by Jack Colwell of the ''South Bend Tribune'' as a record-low for the number of votes to be cast in a South Bend mayoral Republican primary in "modern political history". In fact, at only 2,264, the turnout in the city's overall Republican primaries were also described as a record-low for modern-time Republican municipal primaries in the city.

General election

the city saw its lowest turnout for a mayoral election since 1925. 29,196 votes were cast.

Parent won by a roughly 2–1 margin over Republican H. Chris Overgaard.

Immediately after the Democratic primary, all of Parent's three largest opponents gave him their support for the general election.

1983

The 1983 South Bend, Indiana mayoral election was held on November 8, 1983. It saw the reelection of incumbent Democrat Roger Parent.

Nominations

Primary elections were held on May 3.

Democratic primary

Democrats renominated incumbent mayor Roger Parent.

Republican primary

Republicans nominated businessman Howeard Hoodhew. Goodhew defeated school board member Oscar Brookins.

American party nomination

The American Party nominated Kathryn Brookins, wife of failed Republican primary contender Oscar Brookins.

General election

At 62%, turnout, while showing an increase over that of the previous mayoral election, was not considered all that high.

Many local Republicans saw Goodhew as presenting the party with its best chances of winning the mayoralty since Lloyd M. Allen left office.

In the closing period of the campaign, Howard Goodhew ran harsh attacks on Parent and the city government he had overseen. Internal polling by Parent's campaign late in the race had shown the race between him and Goodhew narrowing, with Goodhew gaining on him. However, in the very last days of the election, Parent's polls again showed him with a more comfortable margin. Some believed that the last-minute attacks on Parent by Goodhew may have backfired on Goodhew.

Parent's campaign had been satisfied that voter turnout improved over the previous election, as they believed that apathy among voters would hurt his chances of reelection.

While Goodhew denied it, there were allegations that a state board that he was chair of was playing politics to aid his campaign when it delayed a bond issue for the city of South Bend.

Parent carried the vote in five of the city's six Common Council (city council) districts The coinciding election for the Common Council (which also had two at-large seats) saw the Democrats retain the 8–1 majority that they had won four years prior.

1987

The 1987 South Bend, Indiana mayoral election was held on November 3, 1987. Joe Kernan defeated Republican Carl Baxmeyer. This is the closest that a Republican has come to the mayoralty of South Bend since the last Republican victory in 1967.

Background

Incumbent Democratic mayor Roger Parent opted not to seek a third term as mayor. Rumors arose that internal polling had shown that, with controversy around the construction of Stanley Coveleski Regional Stadium, Parent would not have been able to win a third term. Several allies of Parent on the Common Council with involvement in the stadium construction would ultimately lose their reelection bids in the May primaries.

Primaries

Primary elections were held in May.

Democratic primary

The main two candidates in the Democratic primary were Joe Kernan (the city's former comptroller from 1980 to 1984) and Richard D. Jasinki (an incumbent county commissioner). The primary widely being viewed as a race between the two of them, with their campaigns against each other proving heated and divisive. In addition to Kernan and Jasinki there were several less-prominent candidates running in the primary, including James A. Guy II, R. McAlister Ellis Jr., and Lester Johnson. Kernan prevailed in the primary, receiving 51% of the vote.

While campaigning for the nomination, Kernan distanced himself from incumbent mayor Roger Parent, whom he had served under as comptroller during Parent's first term as mayor. When asked about Parent at a forum, Kernan declared that if elected, "it's going to be Joe Kernan's administration" (as opposed to a continuation of Parent's administration). Kernan also promised that as mayor he would not include Parent in his administration. Additionally, he declared that the controversial baseball stadium project that had been championed by Parent as problematic, but stated that, since it had already been built, the city now needed to make the best use of the stadium rather than, "sulk and pout about it for 20 years." Jasinki promised that if he elected, his mayoral leadership would mark "a complete change" from Parent's administration, and argued that a Kernan mayoralty would contrarily offer, "four more years of the same government." Jasinki staked out a position opposing any further privatization of city services, while Kernan did not take a firm stance on the issue. Jasinki declined to debate Kernan.

Kernan's main campaign message was that the city needed to take action in preparing for its future rather than "sitingback".

Jasinksi (of Polish-American descent) hoped that his campaign could generate broad turnout and a large number of votes in the areas of the city that had been his primary base of support: West Side precincts in neighborhoods with large Polish-American populations. Kernan hoped to counter Jasinksi's ethnic appeal to Polish-American voters by making a public plea the city to unite apart from any ethnic, racial, or religious divisions.

Kernan received the endorsement of former mayor Peter Nemeth, who had left office years earlier as a popular mayor. Nemeth had spent the first several years of his post-mayoralty staying out of city politics, breaking this silence in order to give Kernan what was regarded to be a significant endorsement.

Republican primary

Carl Baxmeyer, a city planner, won the Republican nomination, defeating opponents Mike Waite and William C.A. Rose Jr. Waite was businessman who had never held public office, and had been original opponent of the stadium. Waite had informally withdrawn from the race after his ex-wife was murdered, but remained on the ballot.

General election

The 1987 general election was the most recent general election for South Bend mayor to be truly competitive, and was arguably the only truly competitive mayoral general election in the city since 1967 (in which the city's most recent Republican mayor, Lloyd M. Allen, was last elected). Kernan defeated Baxmeyer by a mere 2,000 vote margin. Kernan's narrow margin has been attributed to the Democratic party having been left fractured after a bitter Democratic mayoral primary.

Baxmeyer made a campaign issue out of city attorney Rich Hill, criticizing the city's decision to have hired him, "on a part-time basis at almost twice his former salary". Incumbent mayor Roger Parent disputed Baxmeyer's criticisms, arguing that it made sense to hire Hill due to the fact that he was already caught up on important issues including the city's stadium efforts.

The editorial board of the ''South Bend Tribune'' endorsed Kernan, citing his "extensive experience in private business and public service". FOP #36, the city's police union, endorsed Baxmeyer.

Results

1991

The 1991 South Bend, Indiana mayoral election was held on November 5, 1991. Incumbent Democratic mayor Joe Kernan was reelected to a second term, defeating Republican challenger Sylvia Shelton.

Shelton would have been the first woman to be elected mayor of South Bend had she won the election. , no woman has been elected mayor of South Bend. Turnout in the election was considered to be light, which the ''South Bend Tribune'' attributed to cold weather on the day of the election.

1995

The 1995 South Bend, Indiana mayoral election was held on November 7, 1995. Incumbent Democratic mayor Joe Kernan was reelected to a third term, defeating Republican challenger Michael C. "Mike" Waite. Kernan won a record share of the vote for a South Bend mayoral election.

In winning this election, Kernan became the first South Bend mayor since 1905 to win a third term. It also made Kernan poised to break the record, at the time, for longest-serving mayor of South Bend.

Primaries

Democratic primary

Joe Kernan won renomination.

Republican primary

Waite, a businessman who had previously been an unsuccessful candidate in the 1987 South Bend Republican mayoral primary and had never before held public office, won a Republican primary that also featured Larry M. Scott and James W. Philson. Waite was president of High Tech Alarm Corporation Inc. He had also previously been involved in third party politics in 1994.

General election

Republican Mike Waite encountered several stumbling blocks during his candidacy, including an arrest shortly after the primary election for unpaid bills and a lawsuit for backpay on delinquent child support. Much of the campaign season would center on these controversies. Waite claimed his arrest was politically motivated and orchestrated by Kernan and the St. Joseph County sheriff, with Kernan denying this accusation.

Ultimately, while Waite remained their nominee, the Republican Party withdrew their backing of his candidacy.

Kernan had attracted respect as mayor for his ability to attract economic development to the community.

Kernan campaigned as an opponent of further privatization in the city. While he did not stake out a position opposing all and privatization that had already occurred, he rather positioned himself to be an opponent of what he called the, "wholesale auction of the city's assets". South Bend Republicans had been proponents of further privatization.

Waite criticized Kernan on the issue of crime, accusing him of both ignoring and denying the issue. Kernan argued that he had taken measures to address crime, such as increasing the size of the city's police force by 34 officers since 1991. Kernan also claimed that the rate of violent crime had decreased 19% since the previous year. He conceded, however, that crime was, "the most significant challenge we face in the community". Indicative of the issue of crime, the city had already seen a record murder total in 1995 by the time of the election. Waite's proposals to address crime included spending more funds on the police department, restructuring the police department, and increasing the number of police officers. He argued that this could be accomplished without increasing taxes.

Another issue was a proposed minor league ice hockey arena in South Bend. The city had been approached by an interested minor league ice hockey franchise, and Kernan was open to the idea, and was working to create a committee to weigh the cost and benefits of such a venture. Waite opposed the creation of a South Bend hockey franchise, arguing that stadium financing would take away funding better spent on other needs. Waite also criticized the scheme, arguing that it was problematic that such a new arena would create competition with the region's existing venues such as the Edmund P. Joyce Center. Waite also argued, "If people want to watch hockey they can go see the Notre Dame hockey team."

Another issue debated was the financing for the College Football Hall of Fame, with Waite criticizing the lack of transparency behind its financing and contracts. He characterized it to be a tax burden on the city. At the time, attracting the College Football Hall of Fame to South Bend had been considered one of Kernan's successes as mayor.

Another issue debated was the Blackthorn development, which would see a privately managed golf course surrounded by office developments. Waite opposed this project, while Kernan supported it, arguing that it had added 3,000 jobs and $25 million in investment to the city. Kernan declared, "When Waite says he opposes Blackthorn, he is saying he opposes jobs in the community".

Kernan supported a measure to implement an option tax, arguing that it would provide property tax relief and enable capital improvements. Waite stood in opposition to any new taxes.

Waite criticized Kernan for being allegedly indifferent towards the proposed establishment of an adult bookstore on South Main Street saying, "Mayor Joe Kernan would rather subsidize porno book than school books." He also argued that the city needed more higher paying jobs, and that it was detrimental that city had more service sector employees than manufacturing sector employees. He blamed planning decisions by city government for creating this balance of employment types. Waite also accused Kernan of being guilty of wrongful acts.

A debate was held between Kernan and Waite shortly before of the election.

Speculation had arisen that Kernan would be a prospective nominee for lieutenant governor in the 1996 Indiana gubernatorial election. Kernan denied having any such aspirations at the time, however, he would ultimately be the lieutenant gubernatorial nominee the following year and was elected as such.

Result

At the time, the voter turnout was considered to be relatively low, with the turnout equating to roughly 20% of the city's overall populace.

Kernan's more than 82% of the vote set a record for South Bend mayoral elections.

Kernan became the first South Bend mayor since 1905 to be elected to a third term.

The election made Kernan poised to become the city's longest-serving mayor at the time, with his mayoral tenure being able to extend than any of his predecessors' mayoralties.

1999

The 1999 South Bend, Indiana mayoral election was held on November 2, 1999. Incumbent Democratic mayor Steve Luecke, who had become mayor after his predecessor Joe Kernan became Lieutenant Governor of Indiana, was reelected to a first full-term (and second overall term).

Luecke faced Republican challenger Steven Bradley.

Nominations

Democratic primary

During the Democratic primary election, Luecke was challenged by Portage Township Assessor John Voorde as well as Kevin C. Horton and Zbigniew "Ziggy" Borowski.

Voorde arose as the most significant challenger to Luecke. Voorde was the son of past mayor Edward F. Voorde, who had served from 1956 until his death in office in 1960.

By April, polls reportedly showed Luecke with a double-digit lead over Voorde.

Republican primary

Steve Bradley defeated Melvin Townsend in the Republican primary.

General election

During the election campaign, Bradley criticized Luecke's record on public safety. Bradley used FBI statistics to claim that New York City was safer than South Bend in regards to violent crime. However, Luecke accused Bradley of distorting statistics, accusing Bradley of being "incorrigible" and using a Richard Nixon-style campaign tactic of distributing falsehoods.

Bradley criticized Luecke for taking what he argued was too long to appoint a new police chief after South Bend's previous police chief resigned after being charged with a DUI, stating, It's time for the mayor to act like a mayor and show some leadership," and declaring that the South Bend Police Department had been left "rudderless".

Bradley proposed a business incentive development plan.

Bradley placed emphasis on the city's loss of 1,000 jobs at AMGeneral and South Bend Stamping.

Bradley attacked Luecke for having been a conscientious objector during the Vietnam War.

Bradley ran a billboard which read "My girlfriend said it's either her or south bend. My girlfriend is gone. For me it's South Bend". This billboard was speculated to be one of the reasons Bradley would be shown to poll poorly among women voters.

Ahead of the election, polls showed Luecke to be in the lead. A poll conducted October 13–15 by Howey Political Report found Luecke leading 51 to 32 (with 17% of respondents being "undecided") with a +/-5.2 margin. A similarly timed South Bend Tribune poll found Luecke to have a 14-point lead. Additionally, South Bend was considered to be a strongly Democratic city. A Republican had not been elected mayor of the city since Loyd Allen his second term in 1967.

Turnout in the election was 31%.

2003

The 2003 South Bend, Indiana mayoral election was held on November 4, 2003. Incumbent Democratic mayor Steve Luecke was reelected to a second full-term (and third overall term).

Nominations

Democratic primary

Incumbent mayor Steve Luecke was unchallenged in the Democratic Party's primary election. Originally attempting to challenge Leucke for the nomination was 1995 Republican mayoral nominee (and failed 1987 South Bend Republican mayoral primary candidate) Michael C. "Mike" Waite.

Republican primary

After a long search to try and find a candidate, hours before the deadline for a candidate to register, St. Joseph County Republican chairman Matt Lentsch announced Thomas Schmidt as a candidate/presumptive nominee. Thomas R. Schmidt was unchallenged in the Republican primary.

General election

Luecke was heavily favored to win the election.

2003 wound up being a good year for Democrats in Indiana's mayoral elections, with the party winning control of the mayoralties of all of the state's top seven most populous cities for the first time since 1959. The Democratic Party also won control of the mayoralties in twenty of the state's thirty cities with populations above 25,000. Additionally, in 2003, Democrats won more than 56% of partisan mayoral races in Indiana.

During the general election, St. Joseph County, where South Bend is located, saw voter turnout of 15% in its various elections.

2007

The 2007 South Bend, Indiana mayoral election was held on November 6, 2007. Incumbent Democratic mayor Steve Luecke was reelected to a third full-term (and fourth overall term).

Nominations

During the primary elections, St. Joseph County, where South Bend is located, saw voter turnout of 10% in its various primary elections.

Democratic primary

Incumbent mayor Steve Luecke defeated challenger William F. "Bill" Davis in the Democratic primary. Davis was widely-unknown. Davis' primary past political endeavor was an unsuccessful 1994 campaign for a seat on the South Bend School Board. Davis stated that his primary concerns were the corrosion of the city's neighborhoods and the decline of its tax base.

Republican primary

For the first time since 1999, the Republican primary for mayor was a contested one.

The primary was won by Juan A. Manigualt, the President and CEO of Workforce Development. He defeated Terry S. Miller, who was a business owner that had served on the South Bend Common Council from 1972 until 1979. Miller had also been a member of the Century Center Board of Managers, serving as its president from 1981 until 1982. Miller had more recently served as a lobbyist and public policy director for the St. Joseph County Chamber of Commerce.

In his primary race Manigault raised $30,000 in funds.

Manigualt was endorsed in the primary by Fraternal Order of Police Post 36.

The primary race was projected as a "tossup".

General election

South Bend was a heavily Democratic city. No Republican had been elected mayor of South Bend since Lloyd Allen was reelected in 1967.

The South Bend Tribune endorsed incumbent mayor Luecke. Manigault boasted several endorsements, among them was the endorsement of Fraternal Order of Police Post 36, American Family Association

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