Indiana Democrats made big changes last night in the 2019 municipal elections. Democrats flipped six seats in the Indianapolis City-County Council, making the council now a 20-5 majority.
Three Democrats also took seats in Hamilton County, a first for the Republican Party stronghold.
Indiana Democratic Party chair John Zody says last night’s wins came in part from the party’s work to recruit more diverse candidates to represent the state.
“Building a diverse bench of a party takes a long time, and we’ve been working on this over multiple elections," Zody says. "And it shows that battle ground in Indiana is shifting.”
He says nationally, suburbs are starting to vote more Democrat and Indiana is following the trend.
In Zionsville, Democrat Emily Styron beat incumbent Mayor Tim Haak. Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett was reelected.
The newly elected democrats include people of color, members of the LGBTQ community, and millennials.