It's Bob Hall heading back to the mayor's office in Charlestown

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November 7, 2007

Former mayor knocks off incumbent

By DAVID MANN The News and Tribune Wed Nov 07, 2007, 11:11 AM EST

CHARLESTOWN CITY MAYOR

Republican Bob Hall — 1,306 (55.93%)

Democrat Mike Hall — 1,029 (44.07%)

It’s back to the future in Charlestown, as former Mayor Bob Hall came out victorious after Tuesday’s election.

While the totals won’t be made official for a week or so, unofficial results show that voters preferred Bob Hall over his opponent, incumbent Mayor Mike Hall, by a 56 percent to 44 percent margin. The former mayor garnered about 275 more votes than Mike Hall.

The mayoral victory represented a near sweep for Republicans in Charlestown, as GOP candidates knocked off several Democrat incumbent councilmen. The mood at Republican headquarters in Charlestown — at the Wilson Education Center, off of Ind. 62 — was one of jubilation by the time results came in.

Pats on the back and congratulatory handshakes were common place in the room full of yellow “back to the future Bob” T-shirts.

“It’s always nice to be on this side of the results,” Bob Hall said.

The campaign between the two has been a long and ugly one, with allegations of vote buying and negative rhetoric from supporters of both. Despite that, Bob Hall said he wasn’t particularly worried going into the election.

“We worked hard,” he said. “We had a good organization.”

Bob Hall said he believes he can work well with the next council, which is now majority Republican by a 3-2 margin. “If you keep your focus on what’s good for the citizens we’ll get along fine,” he said.

Across town, Democrats were gathered at the local American Legion post, where things took on a more somber tone. Mike Hall, sitting in a back room surrounded by friends and cigarette smoke, said he was proud of the team who helped his re-election bid, despite the outcome.

“The other camp worked hard,” he said. “We give them credit.”

He said he believes his message of improving the cities utility service was made clear to the voters but in the end, “I think it became a pocketbook issue,” he said.

Both the town's sewer and water rates were raised during the Mike Hall administration, something the Republican candidates jumped on during the campaign. Mike Hall defended that record, saying it had to be done in order to improve the city’s utilities service.

Mike Hall said the transition between the two administrations would be smooth and that he hopes the new mayor continues with the programs for which the current government laid the groundwork.