Democrats Now Control The City Council Of Mike Pence’s Hometown
If Vice President Mike Pence ever decides to visit his hometown in the near future, it will be under a government leadership that hasn’t been seen since his 20s.
As part of a nationwide “blue wave” of voting patterns that have been noticed in this off-year election cycle, Columbus, Indiana, the city Pence calls his hometown, selected four individuals to serve on the city council who are Democrats. The remaining three council members, all Republicans, were incumbents who held onto their seats.
The 4-3 split favoring the Democrats on the Columbus city council is a first for the city in nearly 40 years, Newsweek reported.
There is a chance that one of the seats could flip, however: one of the council seats was decided by a one-vote margin of victory, which means it will likely be contended in a recount.
Still, Democrats across the state were celebrating the wins in Columbus, as well as in other communities across the state.
“It’s undeniable, the suburbs are up for grabs in 2020,” Indiana Democratic Party Chair John Zody said in a statement about Tuesday’s electoral wins.
Columbus, Indiana, just elected its first Democratic city council in nearly three decades. The town is the hometown of both Cummins—the global engine manufacturer—and VP Mike Pence. pic.twitter.com/z1IfMsPUHk
— Timothy Aeppel (@TimAeppel) November 6, 2019
Bartholomew County, of which Columbus, Indiana, is the county seat, is considered a very “red,” or Republican, area. In 2016, the county voted overwhelmingly for Donald Trump, with Mike Pence as his vice presidential nominee at the time, with 63 percent of voters casting ballots for the Republican Party ticket.
The mayor of Columbus, Jim Lienhoop, was unopposed in this year’s election. According to Fox 59, Lienhoop has expressed confidence that the divided government can work together, as council members from opposing party’s have cooperated in the past on a number of issues.