Republicans Continue to Lose Township Offices in Marion County

I decided to take another look at the Marion County township election results, this time comparing those who will be in office in 2015 versus those who occupied those township offices following the 2000 elections.   What I found was a steady Republican decline.

In 2000, Republicans occupied every township-wide elected office in every township in Marion County except for Center where Democrats dominated and continue to dominate.  Republicans had majorities on every township board, except for Center and Washington, the latter which the Democrats had just recently won control.  Among the 90 elected township offices, Republicans controlled 66  or 73.3%.

Following the 2014 elections, Democrats will occupy every township-wide elected office in Marion County except for Marion County's three southern townships, Decatur, Perry and Franklin and the Trustee's Office in Wayne.  The Democrats also have a majority on the township board of the six northern most townships (Wayne, Center, Warren, Lawrence, Washington and Pike).  Of the 90 elected township offices, Republicans now only control 40 or 44.5%.

Township offices are important to look at because they more than any others races reflect how strong the grass roots of a party is.    Further, city-county council and state legislative candidates often come from the ranks of township elected officials. That does not bode well for the Marion County Republican Party.

Note:  Township assessor which was an elected position in 2000 but later eliminated by the state legislature, was not included in this analysis.