Chair of the Vanderburgh County Republican Party Mike Duckworth made the announcement at the post-polling gathering Tuesday night as 100 percent of the votes were counted.
“With 16 of the 16 polling centers, it looks like Natalie Rascher is the nominee from the Republican Party for the mayor.”
Rascher took 3,604 votes to Musgrave’s 2,045.
“Thank you for believing in me and my vision for Evansville and choosing me at the end of the day,” Rascher said to supporters at The Foundry on Main. “We've got such a great opportunity to now come together as a party and show everyone … why Republican leadership has been so important.”
Musgrave in a prepared statement , thanked her family and supporters.
“While we may not be headed any further on the road to the mayor's office, this go round. We will continue our fight to ensure that Evansville is a safe, secure, and thriving city that we all deserve.”
Rascher said now she’ll shift focus into the general election.
“My strategy, you know, come November, a lot of that is just going to be reaching out across party lines, making sure that individuals understand again, my vision for Evansville and how I want to bring people to the table.”
Rascher will face off against Democrat Stephanie Terry and Libertarian Michael Dougherty in the general election. Neither Terry nor Dougherty had a primary race.
In Musgrave's statement, she also alleged lies and “blatant deceit and the character assassinations,” from the opposition.
In addition to the mayoral election, county Republicans and Democrats also voted for positions on City Council, such as Council-at-large and various council wards — though technically none were contested.