By STEPHANIE MOJICA
Democrat attorney Ken Pierce defeated fellow attorney and incumbent judge Scott Lewis for the Jeffersonville City Court judicial bench in Tuesday’s election, taking nearly 57 percent of the vote.
Pierce, 33, ran against Lewis, a 37-year-old Republican, who was appointed last December by Gov. Mitch Daniels to replace Vicki Carmichael after she was elected judge of Clark County Superior Court No. 1. Pierce has served as judge pro tempore for several courts in the area.
Election Day results showed 56.74 percent, or 3,636 people, voted for Pierce. Lewis took 43.26 percent of the total, or 2,772 votes.
Pierce celebrated his victory with friends and other supporters at Rocky’s Italian Grill. About a dozen people cheered as Pierce’s name flashed across a television station banner as election winner.
“I am ecstatic,” Pierce said. “I think my message resonated with the voters, and they recognized the effort I put into the campaign.”
Lewis could not be reached for comment as of publication deadline.
“I would like to congratulate my opponent for all the hard work he and his supporters put into his campaign,” Pierce said of Lewis on Tuesday. “I would like to especially congratulate all the other victorious candidates of the evening.”
A point of contention in the campaign was Lewis stating in a recent interview that Pierce’s objectives to reach youth before they become a part of the criminal system are a duplication of services and not appropriate for an adult court.
Now that he is elected, Pierce plans to implement a “lunch with a judge” program. In this monthly effort, students from Jeffersonville schools who exemplify good behavior will sit in court with Pierce.
He, along with other officials including police, will then take the student to any restaurant they choose, and speak with them candidly about their feelings and court experience. Pierce said he hopes this will enable students to feel supported, encourage their classmates to behave in school so their administrators will select them for the program and think before committing any crime.
In addition, he will also look into using probation money to hire off-duty security for the court, and work to alter the current system of on-duty Jeffersonville police officers. This would place those officers out on the street to protect residents outside the court, Pierce said in a recent interview.
During the campaign, mailings with Pierce’s mug shot, from a past drunken driving arrest, were distributed. Lewis denied direct involvement with that, claiming it was the Clark County Republican Party. Pierce was convicted in 2004 of class B misdemeanor public intoxication in connection with the incident, and has publicly expressed regret several times for the indiscretion.
“I believe the voters have spoken and I believe they’ve said that they will no longer tolerate negative campaigning,” Pierce said. “At the end of the campaign the candidates should be exhausted, not the voters.
“I want to thank all the voters who come out and supported me and the Democratic Party. I’d also like to thank all the voters in general. They should be commended for their participation in the political process.”
