Tribune-Star Editorial: In wake of GOP sweep, shared style of local governing still best

The Republican Party emerged from Tuesday's election with a new dominance of Vigo County governance.

Their campaign proved strongly successful, paralleling the GOP's state and national election performance. Voters supported Republican candidates at impressive rates of between 52% and 62% for county offices.

The party maintained its 3-0 hold on the county commissioners seats, and captured the majority on the County Council at 5-2 over Democrats. Republicans also won county races for Superior Court Division 6 judge, clerk, auditor, recorder, treasurer and coroner.

For decades, Republicans struggled just to get challengers on the ballot against Democrats locally. That has clearly changed, and the GOP deserves credit for building a sustained flow of office-seekers. A strong two-party balance is healthy for the community, offering a range of ideas, as well as checks and balances on nepotism and machine politics.

The revised local political landscape should also come with a reminder to Republican elected officials, heading into 2025 and beyond. This community has benefited from a bipartisan style of governing for nearly two decades. That two-party collaboration remains necessary. While the GOP indeed now controls countywide offices, Democrats control the city of Terre Haute's elected offices. Mayor Brandon Sakbun and all nine City Council members are Democrats, as is the city clerk and city judge.

Of course, city and county office-holders have separate, distinct duties and constituencies. Still, many community projects encompass multiple entities. In some Indiana communities, elected officials from the locality's dominant party may shut down ideas or efforts by individuals or groups from an opposing party. Terre Haute and Vigo County have largely avoided that scenario, and do not need such a political rabbit hole of wasted energy.

Also, Tuesday's outcome merits a broader perspective. Republicans at the congressional, state and local levels benefited from the name at the top of the party's national ticket — president-elect Donald Trump. In reality, the Republican Party is now the Trump Party, rather than its longtime moniker of the Grand Old Party. The 45th and now 47th president's stances, priorities and allegiances widely diverge from the pre-2016 Republican Party. Trump's unwavering grip on the party has reshaped it in his political likeness.

Vigo County's Republican Party had already made substantial inroads on disrupting Democrats' control of local offices through the latter half of the 20th century and early 21st century, especially by past wins in the races for prosecutor and mayor.

But Trump's following has revved the party's advancement here. His candidacy has increased straight-ticket voting in the last three presidential election cycles to the point that 51% of all 2024 Vigo County ballots (21,140 of 41,360 total) were straight-ticket; of those, 60% (12,670) took the all-Republican choice.

Trump's influence does not diminish the commanding performance by Vigo County Republicans in Tuesday's election. That outcome also should not alter the healthy, shared fashion of governing that has helped the community progress through recent years. Collaboration has a good track record here.