1967 Indianapolis mayoral election

Indianapolis mayoral election, 1967
Turnout	45.2%
Mayor before election; John J. Barton ; Democratic	Elected Mayor; Richard Lugar ; Republican

Last updated January 30, 2022

The Indianapolis mayoral election of 1967 took place on November 7, 1967.^[1] Richard Lugar defeated incumbent Democratic mayor John J. Barton, becoming the first Republican to be elected mayor of Indianapolis in nearly two-decades.^[1]^[2] Democrats had long dominated mayoral elections before 1967, having won ten of the thirteen mayoral elections since 1930.^[1] No Democrat would subsequently recapture the mayoralty until 1999, largely due to the city-county merger that created the Unigov in 1970 adding the votes of suburban Marion County, which shifted the composition the electorate towards the Republicans.^[3]

Nominations

Democratic primary

Barton was unsuccessfully challenged by Marion County Democratic Party chairman James W. Beatty.^[4] Beatty's challenge to Barton was seen as an act of retribution for Barton seeking to unseat Beatty as chairman the previous year.^[4]

Republican primary

A former member of the Indianapolis School Board,^[4] earlier that year Lugar had unsuccessfully sought to become President of the but lost by a vote of four to three.^[1] Lugar was also the former head of Community Action Against Poverty and an executive at Thomas I. Green & Co.^[4] After this, he was convinced by L. Keith Bulen, the chair of the Marion County Republican Committee, to run for mayor.^[1] Lugar was also supported by the Republican Action Committee, a group of young Republicans that had organized after the party's losses in the 1964 election cycle in order to challenge control of the party from the party establishment.^[4]

In the primary, Lugar defeated former mayor Alex M. Clark.^[4]

General election

Lugar made roughly 400 speeches over the course of his candidacy, discussing a wide variety of issues rather than focusing narrowly on a handful of issues.^[4] Among effective criticisms he lodged against Barton was criticism of the practice of open-dump burning of refuse (including in wards that had historically been strongly Democratic).^[4] He also spoke on issues such as the construction of the highway inner loop, minority demands, and a lack of adequate recreation space.^[4]

Barton had been a fairly popular incumbent.^[1] By the end of the election cycle, it had been widely anticipated that he would be reelected by a narrow margin.^[4] Lugar's win was considered to be a political upset.^[4]

Coinciding municipal elections were also swept by the Republican Party.^[5] Republicans took the city council elections with a 6 to 3 majority of seats.^[4]

Indianapolis mayoral election, 1967^[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Richard Lugar	72,278	53.3
	Democratic	John J. Barton (incumbent)	63,284	46.7
Turnout			135,562	45.2
Majority			8,994	6.6
	Republican gain from Democratic

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References

1 2 3 4 5 6 "Running for Mayor". Indiana University Bloomington. Retrieved 11 September 2019.
↑ King, Seth S. (31 October 1971). "MAYOR IN INDIANA FACES CHALLENGE". New York Times. Retrieved 11 September 2019.
↑ Rickett, Christopher (29 April 2019). "Richard Lugar and Uni-Gov: 5 things about the government merger that redrew Indianapolis". Indianapolis Star. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Bodenhamer, David J. (1994). The Encyclopedia of Indianapolis. Indiana University Press. p. 537. ISBN 0-253-31222-1.
↑ Poletika, Nicole (29 March 2019). "The Undemocratic Making of Indianapolis". Belt Magazine. Retrieved 11 September 2019.
↑ Bodenhamer, David J.; Barrows, Robert G. (1994). The Encyclopedia of Indianapolis. Indiana University Press. p. 1356 and 1357. ISBN 0-253-31222-1.

Preceded by 1963	Indianapolis mayoral election 1967	Succeeded by 1971

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[mayoralcampaign-1] 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Running for Mayor". Indiana University Bloomington. Retrieved 11 September 2019.

[2] King, Seth S. (31 October 1971). "MAYOR IN INDIANA FACES CHALLENGE". New York Times. Retrieved 11 September 2019.

[3] Rickett, Christopher (29 April 2019). "Richard Lugar and Uni-Gov: 5 things about the government merger that redrew Indianapolis". Indianapolis Star. Retrieved 21 April 2020.

[bodenhamer1-4] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Bodenhamer, David J. (1994). The Encyclopedia of Indianapolis. Indiana University Press. p. 537. ISBN 0-253-31222-1.

[5] Poletika, Nicole (29 March 2019). "The Undemocratic Making of Indianapolis". Belt Magazine. Retrieved 11 September 2019.

[bodenhamervoting-6] Bodenhamer, David J.; Barrows, Robert G. (1994). The Encyclopedia of Indianapolis. Indiana University Press. p. 1356 and 1357. ISBN 0-253-31222-1.

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