On Tuesday, Lloyd Winnecke was elected the first Republican three term mayor in Evansville history.
History was made in this election, but at the Republican watch party Tuesday evening, the mayor was quick to point out that wouldn’t change anything about how he does his job.
Standing in front of an arch of red, white and blue ballons and with a cheering crowd of supporters, he said, “I can tell you we’ll govern the next four years the way we’ve governed the last eight years. We’ll still be out picking up trash on the first Saturday of every month. We’ll still be as involved in the community as we have been for eight years, and we’ll continue to do everything we can to make Evansville the greatest city in the state of Indiana.”
Winning with eighty percent of the vote, the mayor had hoped his coattails would be long enough to bring in a Republican majority on the city council. That didn’t happen. Instead, he’ll face an overwhelming Democratic majority, seven to two, on the council.
He said, “It’s disappointing, but it won’t change the way we govern.”
The immediate speculation with such a convincing win is whether Mayor Winnecke might be interested in a fourth term.
He said, “Oh my gosh, we’re going to celebrate this, and we’re going to evaluate that well down the road.”
The mayor says the top priority for his third term will be to build collaborations with the new members of the city council.
