Indianapolis, Indiana – Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett stated in his first interview following the May 2 primary election that he hoped to put the party’s internal conflict between himself and State Representative Robin Shackleford behind him in preparation for his third term in office.
”We both agreed that upon her return we’d sit down to talk about how and what kind of role she could play in unifying the competition that she and I were engaged in,” said Hogsett, “and frankly we’ll do anything and everything we need to do to convince undecided voters or independent swing voters to vote for the ticket in the fall.”
Monday’s meeting of the Marion County Election Board will determine the final primary results.
”The turnout was kind of at a record number for a municipal primary election and I hope that continues into the fall,” said Hogsett, putting the best face on results that saw his top two opponents outpoll him by more than nine thousand votes.
A total of 79,612 votes were cast during the primary, according to preliminary data.
Hogsett received 28,230 ballots, or 58% of the total, while Shackleford received 18,358 ballots, or roughly 38%, on the Democratic side.
Jefferson Shreve, a Republican, received 19,170 votes, or over 66% of all GOP ballots. He noted that this was a higher percentage of party votes than Hogsett received, despite the GOP receiving less votes overall.
When Shackleford and Shreve were combined, voters chose them over Hogsett, despite the fact that the mayor’s raw vote total nearly outnumbered the total number of Republican ballots cast.
Hogsett faces his toughest opponent ever in the fundraising arena.
The mayor reported having $4,131,568 in his campaign fund as of April 14.
Shreve, a rich businessman who has largely supported his own campaign, reported having $655,663 in cash on hand with the expectation that he will use more of it for the autumn campaign.
“I’m taking nothing for granted,” said Hogsett. “I’m running like I always do which is 20 points behind, whether that’s true or not, its anybody’s guess.”
