<body><div>The blue wave that swept across the U.S. Nov. 3 not only changed the balance of power in Congress, it also wiped out many of the opposed Republican candidates in historically red Hamilton County up and down the ballot. For decades considered a Republican stronghold, in Hamilton County Democrats won three of four county council seats on the ballot and swept each of the three seats on the Clay, Delaware and Fall Creek township boards. They also flipped multiple Statehouse seats, including ousting House Speaker Todd Huston. All of those offices have long been held by Republicans. In two races, Democrats didn’t even have a candidate on the ballot in the May primary. In July, the Hamilton County Democratic Party selected Charles Hollowell and Alexandra Wilson to run against unopposed Republicans. In January, they will become the county’s next sheriff and clerk, respectively, after narrowly defeating well-established and better funded Republican opponents. Nationwide, voters blamed the war with Iran and resulting higher prices at the pump and elsewhere as key reasons for voting Democratic. Although county officials have little to do with national politics, that likely didn’t matter to many voters, according to Laura Merrifield Wilson, an associate professor of political science at the University of Indianapolis. “If it is a bad year for your party, that can be really hard. In some cases, it can be insurmountable,” Wilson said. “Of course, the candidate is going to say, ‘It was just a bad year for our party. It wasn’t a failure on my end.’ The truth is probably somewhere in between.” Wilson and several candidates told Current they were surprised by the strength of the blue wave in Hamilton County. But Meredith Fox, vice chair of the Hamilton County Democratic Party, said the results reflect years of hard work put in by county officials and candidates. She said the party was determined to create its own blue wave, regardless of what happened nationally.“Our focus has always been we need to start local,” Fox said. “There’s no one else talking about Hamilton County politics, and we need to make sure that we’re talking about it and that we have the people there. So, we wanted to make sure we created our own thing, even with everything else going on around us.” Hamilton County Republican Party Chair Mario Massillamany said national political issues derailed solid local GOP candidates. “We lost a lot of seats (nationwide) that we shouldn’t have ever lost and haven’t lost in generations,” he told Current. “Unfortunately, when there’s a national mood against Republicans because of what the president is doing, because of high gas prices, because of an endless war in Iran, some of our local politicians, no matter how well they do, it doesn’t matter.” Massillamany and Wilson noted that some voters may have selected the Democratic straight party ticket option to express their disappointment with Republicans. In Hamilton County, more voters selected the Republican straight party ticket, although the gap closed from the previous midterm election. In this year’s general election, 23 percent of Hamilton County voters selected the Republican straight party ticket, while 20 percent of Democrats did the same. In the 2022 midterm election, 28 percent of voters cast Republican straight ticket ballots, compared to 15 percent for Democrats. Beating expectations The Hamilton County Democratic Party aimed to flip 10 seats in the county, Fox said, and ended up more than doubling that amount in the general election. That included the county council District 1 seat, which first-time candidate Chris Daniel won with 53 percent of the vote. He defeated Republican incumbent Tim Griffin, a Carmel firefighter elected in 2021 (Griffin declined to comment for this story). “Realistically, I was going up against a well-known incumbent in a race that doesn’t usually get a lot of attention,” said Daniel, a nurse. “We definitely knew it was going to be an uphill battle for our campaign to get on stage.” Another first-time candidate, Democrat Lindsay Gramlich, defeated incumbent Republican State Rep. Danny Lopez for the District 39 seat. The Carmel resident said she always believed victory was possible, despite the seemingly long odds when she launched her campaign in late 2025. Gramlich, CEO of the nonprofit Girls Inc. of Greater Indianapolis, said she noticed momentum for her campaign building as she spoke with voters about public school funding, which was impacted by the 2025 property tax law, Senate Enrolled Act 1. “I never really understood why (state legislators) were trying to mess around with Carmel Clay Schools and Westfield schools as it related to SEA1 and budgeting,” said Gramlich, the daughter of two retired public high school principals. “But that was a moment that I could really feel a lot of people’s frustrations with the state.” Lopez, who supported SEA1, said Republicans did a poor job of communicating its benefits to voters, but said he couldn’t pin the poor showing for the GOP on a single issue. He believes voters weren’t happy with the “tone and tenor” of Republican leadership, especially at the national level, which he believes impacted down-ballot races. “Republicans need to cast a vision for Indiana’s future that is both aspirational and resonates with Hoosier in a way that it did when Gov. (Mitch) Daniels led Indiana‘s revolution,” he said. “It’s a vision that’s positive, ambitious and inclusive. That’s the lesson we should have learned.” Matt Phelps was among the three Democrats to sweep the Clay Township board. He said he frequently heard concern from voters on the campaign trail about a lack of balance in Indiana government. “A large turnout came to say that they are tired of the supermajority calling all the shots and getting complacent in their positions,” Phelps said. “There are things happening in this state and country that demanded this action. It will take years and years to overcome the hateful rhetoric that has cleaved this country’s population. I think the sweep is a much-needed breath of air to move forward in uniting a very fractured country.” Republican Clay Township Trustee Paul Hensel, who was unopposed in his reelection bid, said he’s not aware of any Democrats previously serving on the board. He congratulated the new board members and thanked those leaving office for their years of service.“My focus is on serving Clay Township residents, and I’m ready to get to work with the new board in January,” he said. “During the transition, I’ll make sure residents who rely on township services keep getting the help they need.” Not every Hamilton County Republican in an opposed race lost. County Councilor Mark Hall, who represents the northern rural part of the county, was solidly reelected to District 3. And Republican County Commissioner Christine Altman retained her District 1 seat with 50.1 percent of the vote. Unlike the council races on the ballot, residents throughout the county vote for commissioner seats. Will the blue wave continue? Next year only municipal seats will be on the ballot. Wilson said it’s too early to tell if left-leaning candidates will continue their strong showing. “I don’t know that the blue wave continues,” she said. “What this does for the Democrats is give them confidence. It gives them reassurance that whatever they did this year, it worked.” Massillamany said he doesn’t believe Democrats will do as well in Hamilton County in 2027, because no national races will be on the ballot. “These are going to be races where people are going to have to decide if they like living in Fishers and they like the direction that Fishers, Carmel Westfield, Noblesville are heading,” he said. “If they moved here because of the schools, because of the safety, because of the property values and the community that’s been built by Republicans, I think that Republicans will continue to get elected.” Fox said the Hamilton County Democratic Party has already been fielding questions from candidates interested in running in 2027. “We definitely are going to make it our goal for the municipal (election) to fill the ballot,” she said. Hamilton County seats flipped The Hamilton County Democratic Party aimed to flip 10 seats in the Nov. 3 general election. They ended up flipping more than 20. They include: <ul><li>State Senate District 31: Kerry Forestal defeated Juanita Albright </li><li>State Rep. District 24: Racheal Bleicher defeated incumbent Hunter Smith </li><li>State Rep. District 37: Lauren S. Cole defeated incumbent Todd Huston </li><li>State Rep. District 39: Lindsay Gramlich defeated incumbent Danny Lopez</li><li>State Rep. District 88: Stephanie Jo Yocum defeated incumbent Chris Jeter</li><li>County clerk: Alexandra E. Wilson defeated Bethany Sheller </li><li>County sheriff: Charles Hollowell defeated Dustin Dixon </li><li>County council District 1: Chris Daniel defeated incumbent Tim Griffin</li><li>County council District 2: Nathan Bullock defeated incumbent Amy Massillamany </li><li>County council District 4: Jason E. Frank defeated incumbent Ken Alexander </li><li>Clay Township Board: Gregory Daniels, Michael Needham and Matthew J. Phelps defeated David Haboush, Morgan B. Rinehart and incumbent Paul Bolin</li><li>Delaware Township Board: Bethann Buddenbaum, Jennifer Dean Chaudhry and Patrick Schooley defeated incumbents Rick Fain, Kim Logan and Marilyn A. Schenkel</li><li>Fall Creek Township Trustee: Stephanie Hunt defeated Doug Allman</li><li>Fall Creek Township Board: Alex J. Hunt, Mulalo Rikhotso and Joe Weingarten defeated Diane Eaton, Lynne Goodin and incumbent Susan Davis</li></ul></div></body>

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The blue wave that swept across the U.S. Nov. 3 not only changed the balance of power in Congress, it also wiped out many of the opposed Republican candidates in historically red Hamilton County up and down the ballot. For decades considered a Republican stronghold, in Hamilton County Democrats won...

Blue wave shifts political dynamics throughout Hamilton County

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The blue wave that swept across the U.S. Nov. 3 not only changed the balance of power in Congress, it also wiped out many of the opposed Republican candida

Blue wave shifts political dynamics throughout Hamilton County

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