Who Will Be the Next Mayor of Evansville: The Poll Results

Dan McGinn vs. Rick Davis

During late July the City-County Observer conducted a non-scientific online poll asking our readers who would be the best person to be the next Mayor of Evansville.

Nine members of the community all of whom have had their name mentioned as potential candidates for Mayor were listed in the survey. We also included at the request of a reader the category of “none of the above”. There was no opportunity for someone to write-in the name of another candidate. It must be pointed out that some of these candidates have openly expressed a desire to be Mayor and others have not. The fact that someone is mentioned as a candidate is no guarantee that they have any interest in the office of Mayor of Evansville.
The respondents of the survey come from the more than 1,000 unique visitors to the City-County Observer’s website during the week that ended on July 23, 2010. A total of 243 unique users expressed their preference. The tabulation of votes in order of finish is as follows:

Dan McGinn (R): 77 votes
Rick Davis (D): 44 votes
Erik Williams (D): 27 votes
Lloyd Winnecke (R): 26 votes
NONE OF THE ABOVE: 18 votes
Russell Lloyd Jr. (R): 17 votes
Mayor Jonathan Weinzapfel (D): 14 votes
Troy Tornatta (D): 10 votes
Joe Kiefer(R): 7 votes
Steve Melcher (D): 3 votes

Examining the party affiliations leads us to the conclusion that if the primaries were held among our readers that the general election would match Republican City Councilman Dan McGinn against Vanderburgh County Treasurer Rick Davis. Unfortunately neither of these gentlemen has expressed particular interest in the job. Perhaps that is part of the attraction that our readers see in them.

The Democratic primary appears to have the potential for some serious surprises if the slate of candidates contains Sheriff Erik Williams and Rick Davis as both are considered to be well qualified. An interesting twist could really spice up the primary in the event that Mayor Jonathan Weinzapfel seeks a third term and/or Commissioner Troy Tornatta, both of whom garnered less support than the “NONE OF THE ABOVE” category throws their hat into the ring. Both are seasoned politicians with fundraising skills and would be formidable candidates in the race.

On the Republican side, it is about time that Evansville fielded a credible candidate and we expect that Wayne Parke will assure that happens not only for Mayor but for all of the Council seats as well. Councilman Dan McGinn, our top vote getter has not expressed any aggressive interest in the job. County Commissioner Lloyd Winnecke and County Councilman and former Mayor Russell Lloyd Jr. are the next highest vote getters in our poll. Both are experienced in running a campaign but only Winnecke has expressed interests in becoming the next Mayor of Evansville. However Winnecke, like his close political friend Mayor Weinzapfel, must overcome the secret meetings where the Homestead Tax Credit scheme was hatched along with the controversial salary arrangement between Tom Barnett, the City of Evansville, and Gage, where both Winnecke and Mayor Weinzapfel sit on the executive committee. As this poll was conducted prior to the recent election of Wayne Parke as Republican Party Chairman, the residual effects of that election are not reflected in our poll.

The City-County Observer is encouraged that the people of Evansville in another poll and in particular our readers are embracing character and honesty as the criteria for election to public office. We encourage an honest and issue driven 2011 election season for all City of Evansville offices.