1979 Indianapolis mayoral election

The Indianapolis mayoral election of 1979 took place on November 6, 1979 and saw the reelection of Republican William H. Hudnut III.

Indianapolis mayoral election, 1979

November 6, 1979
Turnout	33.6%[1]
Nominee William H. Hudnut III Paul Cantwell Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 124,515 43,955 Percentage 73.9% 26.1%
Mayor before election William H. Hudnut III Republican Elected Mayor William H. Hudnut III Republican

Hadnut defeated Democratic former city-county councilman Paul Cantwell (father of future U.S Senator Maria Cantwell) in what was reported to have been the greatest margin of defeat for a Democratic candidate in an Indianapolis mayoral election in 150 years.[2] Cantwell had resigned his City-County Council seat to focus on his campaign.[2]

Ahead of the election season, Hadnut had demonstrated a strong advantage in polls.[3] Top prospective Democratic candidates declined to run.[3]

Cantwell was struggled to raise funds, ultimately raising only $38,000.[3] Hadnut, meanwhile, spent $278,000 dollars during his campaign.[3]

Results

Indianapolis mayoral election, 1979[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	William H. Hudnut III	124,515	73.9
	Democratic	Paul Cantwell	43,955	26.1
Turnout			168,470
Majority			80,560
	Republican hold

References

1. Bodenhamer, David J. (1994). The Encyclopedia of Indianapolis. Indiana University Press. p. 1356 and 1357. ISBN 0-253-31222-1.
2. Mundy, Alicia (28 July 2006). "Father introduced Cantwell to excitement, pitfalls of politics". The Seattle Times. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
3. Owen, James; York, Wilbern. Governing Metropolitan Indianapolis: The Politics of Unigov. University of California Press. p. 175.

Preceded by 1975

Indianapolis mayoral election 1979

Succeeded by 1983