Now that the Fishers city election is over, we are seeing lots of spin from many sides as to how one should interpret the results.  I would argue there is good and bad news for both political parties.  Allow me to explain.

Let’s start with the Republicans.  They obviously should be happy with the outcome.  The mayor was unopposed in the primary and general election.  The local GOP holds 8 of 9 city council seats.  Both Democrats currently serving on the council were defeated.

But Republicans did need to work hard and spend a lot of money to come up with those wins.  The at-large council race was close.  There were district results that were close, others were not.  Democrats have shown they can be competitive in local Fishers elections.

To the Democrats, they should be pleased with the progress made by their Fishers candidates.  I can recall more than one occasion during my 32 years living here when the general election was cancelled because no Democrats were running.  In other town elections, sometimes there was only one candidate running as a Democrat.

The biggest Democratic disappointment was losing two members of the council, Jocelyn Vare and Crystal Neumann.  Democrat Bill Stuart did defeat Republican David Giffel in a close district race.

The bottom line is this…Republicans are in solid control of Fishers city government as a result of the 2023 election.  However, they need to keep in mind that voters barely elected some of their council members.  That may impact how decisions are made by the council in the coming 4 years.

Congratulations to those winning this election.  But I also congratulate all candidates.  It takes a tremendous amount of work to run for office, even if you lose.