Thallemer Comes Out On Top In Primary Mayoral Primary
Thallemer Comes Out On Top In Primary Mayoral Primary
Posted
David Slone-dslone@timesuniononline.com
Thallemer Comes Out On Top In Primary Mayoral PrimaryIncumbent Warsaw Mayor Joe Thallemer won the Republican primary by a wide margin Tuesday over challenger and City Councilman Ron Shoemaker.
Thallemer received 1,281 votes (63.45%) to Shoemaker’s 738 (36.55%). Currently, no other party has anyone to run against Thallemer in the November general election.
“I think our positive message resonated,” Thallemer said in a short speech at the Republican headquarters after the results were in. “I think that was the key to the election, and I had a lot of people saying, do what you’re doing. Keep your head down and move forward.”
He said he knows he hasn’t been perfect over his first two four-year terms, but he has tried.
“We’ve got a community of almost 15,000 people, you’re not going to be able to please everybody, so you try and collectively make sure most people are happy. And I would say that was probably what happened tonight.”
Afterward, he said the negative relentless attacks toward him on social media were pretty “baseless,” “disingenuous” and “mean-spirited.”
“You never know how many people buy into that, and I didn’t know what impact that would have,” Thallemer said.
Looking at the percentages - 63 to 37 – he said he would have been pleased with 51-50 given the turns this race took.
“That was the only issue I didn’t feel I had a handle on. I talked to people, I knew how people felt. I really felt good going in, but I didn’t want to say that because I wanted people to get out and vote,” Thallemer said.
“My walking more than balanced out the negativity that I heard on social media, and I hope that’s a lesson to those who think that’s a way to get something done in this community because it’s not.”
In his first election for mayor in 2011, Thallemer was one of four candidates in the Republican primary but earned 50% of the vote after serving on city council for 12 years. In 2015, he was uncontested.
He said despite the social media negativity, running for re-election was worth it.
“This is what I want to do. Look at this community; we’re so blessed in this community, and I feel so energized that the folks understood what was really important in this election, and that was this community moving forward,” Thallemer said.
Shoemaker did not answer his phone or return a voicemail Tuesday night for comment on the election results.
Kosciusko County Republican Central Committee Chairman Mike Ragan said, “I think Joe Thallemer has been an excellent mayor. He’s very innovative and he’s put together good department heads. I just can’t say enough about how happy we are with the results of the election.”
Ragan said the Shoemaker camp worked hard.
“The voters have spoken and tomorrow is our first day with Joe Thallemer as our candidate,” he said.
