When Jane & I were married in May of 1991, I moved to Fishers.  I tried to size up the political scene and everywhere I looked, only one word was spoken – Republican.

I recall in the 1990s a general election was cancelled because no Democrats or third-party candidates were running.  All winners in the Republican primary that year were automatically elected to office.

Fishers just held a primary election earlier this month with only one contested race, in the Republican contest for City Clerk.  Incumbent Jennifer Kehl won the election by a wide margin.

A few Republicans and many Democrats locally talked about how many votes they garnered even with no contested race in the primary balloting.  Now that the official results are verified by the local Election Board, the results are essentially unchanged.

At-Large City Councilor Jocelyn Vare issued a news release in recent days touting the number of Democrats showing up at the polls and voting in the primary, even though there were no contested races on the Democratic ballot.

I wrote a recent commentary that we shouldn’t pay a great deal of attention to turnout in a local primary, particularly with only one contested election.  Councilor Vare offered a reminder of the past by pointing to 8 Democrats running the the November Fishers City Election.

I must admit, Democrats in Fishers have come a long way since that cancelled town council election in the 1990s.  “When I won a seat on City Council, it was the first time our community had elected Democrats serving in city government,” said Vare in her news release. “After three years as an At-Large member of the City Council, I am certain that our citizens are served better when there are bold voices like mine who take the job of checks and balances and municipal fiscal responsibility seriously.”

Democrats will offer candidates in all but one city council district, two candidates for at-large council seats and a candidate for city clerk.

Vare also cites these election numbers:

Counting 2,267 Democratic votes in this year’s primary with no contested races, particularly considering the history of Fishers, is no small accomplishment.  Local Democrats were all over social media prior to the primary election urging Democrats to cast primary ballots and that did result in plenty of votes cast.

I do not discount all the arguments posed by Ms. Vare, but we must be real about a few things.  First, Democrats have offered no candidate for mayor, by far the most powerful city office.  I understand why.  Incumbent Mayor Scott Fadness, a Republican, has a very large campaign war chest and it would be quite a challenge for a Democrat to raise enough  money to be competitive.

Secondly, most elections are determined by independent voters.  Most independent voters do not cast ballots in an Indiana primary election because one must declare a party affiliation in order to vote.

Finally, even though there are 2 Democrats on the 9-member Fishers City Council, Republicans are in firm control of city government, holding the offices of mayor, city clerk and city judge.

Obviously, Democrats in Fishers are working to change that, even without a Fishers mayoral hopeful on the November general election ballot.  Some of the council district races four years ago were closer than in past election cycles.

So, Democrats should be proud of what has been accomplished in recent years, but there is a lot of work ahead.  And Fishers Republicans have made it clear they plan to step up their efforts in the upcoming campaign.