1979 Indianapolis mayoral election

Indianapolis mayoral election, 1979

* * *

| <- 1975 | November 6, 1979 | 1983 ->

|
|

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

|

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

Hudnut defeated Democratic former city-county councilman Paul 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, Hudnut had demonstrated a strong advantage in polls.[3] Top prospective Democratic candidates declined to run.[3]

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

At the time of the election, Cantwell's son Danny Cantwell was awaiting trial for murder. He would be acquitted in November 1980. Paul Cantwell argued that the charges were political, and were retribution for his investigations of police corruption.[2]

## Results

[edit]

Indianapolis mayoral election, 1979[1] Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %

|
|
|

| Republican | William H. Hudnut III (incumbent)  | 124,515  | 73.9
| Democratic | Paul Cantwell | 43,955  | 26.1
Turnout | 168,470  |
Majority  | 80,560  |
| Republican hold

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b Bodenhamer, David J. (1994). The Encyclopedia of Indianapolis. Indiana University Press. p. 1356 and 1357. ISBN 0-253-31222-1.
2. ^ a b c Mundy, Alicia (July 28, 2006). "Father introduced Cantwell to excitement, pitfalls of politics". The Seattle Times. Retrieved September 13, 2019.
3. ^ a b c d 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

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