General election 2023: Republicans nearly sweep Carmel City Council races

Carmel Republicans swept nearly all city council seats in Tuesday's election, unofficial results from the Hamilton County election office show.

The Carmel City Council expected to see many new faces, as the only four incumbents that ran won their reelection campaigns. That means the nine-member council will be a majority-freshman group come Jan. 1, and Republicans will remain the majority on the council.

Dr. Anita Joshi, who won the West District seat, was the only Democrat to win in Carmel Tuesday night.

And in the mayor's office, Republican Sue Finkam defeated Democrat Miles Nelson to become the first new leader for the city in 28 years.

Here's what we know:

Central Indiana election results 2023: Live vote tallies around the area as results are announced

At-large (city-wide)

With all precincts reported, Jeff Worrell, Rich Taylor and Matthew Snyder have won Carmel's at-large seats over Democrats Sara Draper and Jake Madore.

Worrell, the incumbent, led the at-large race with about 24% of the vote. Worrell was first elected to the council in 2015 for the Southeast District seat. Worrell won an at-large seat on the council in 2019.

What happened in the primary?: 2023 Indiana election: 5 takeaways from Carmel City Council primary races

Republican Snyder won about 21.4% of votes. Snyder is a 12-year member of the Clay Township board. During his tenure, the board has made major capital improvements in the community through its Impact Program.

Republican Rich Taylor, also among the top three, won 21.1% of the vote. Taylor serves as president of the Carmel Clay Parks and Recreation Board, a position he has held for more than five years. Taylor, who works in commercial real estate and construction, first joined the board 12 years ago.

Draper, who immigrated from England and speaks five languages, received 17.7% of the vote, failing to acquire a seat. She has served on the board of the Village of West Clay and currently serves as a Guardian ad Litem.

Democrat Jake Madore took home about 15.7% of the vote compared to the other candidates. He also failed to win a seat. Madore, who ran unsuccessfully in 2020 for Hamilton County Treasurer, works in corporate taxation. He received a law degree from the Indiana University McKinney School of Law and a bachelor's degree from the University of Michigan.

District 1 - North Central

According to unofficial results, Republican Teresa Ayers won a victory in the race for the North Central district with 54% of the vote. Ayers, the incumbent, beat Democrat Courtney Culver.

Incumbent Ayers is the vice chairwoman of the Hamilton County Republican Party and a board member of the Carmel-Clay Republican Club. Ayers was seated in January after winning a Hamilton County GOP caucus to fill the remainder of former Councilor Bruce Kimball’s term after he died in December of last year.

Culver, a native of Bedford, Indiana, is a leader at a global tech company and a 12-year Carmel resident.

District 2 - Northeast

Shannon Minnaar, the vice chairwoman of the Carmel Symphony Orchestra board of directors, ran unopposed. She defeated Republican Jason Engle in the May primary.

District 3 - Southeast

Holding a steady lead throughout election night, Republican Adam Aasen beat Democrat Jeremy Eltz by about 20 percentage points with about 60% of the vote, according to unofficial results.

Incumbent Aasen, who was elected in 2019, was born in Indianapolis and is a graduate of Indiana University in Bloomington. Aasen previously worked for the Florida Times-Union in Jacksonville and the Carmel Current.

While on the council, Aasen authored legislation to ban the sale of cats and dogs at pet stores in the city although there are no businesses in the city who sell those animals.

Eltz, who ran for Hamilton County Council in 2018, is the director of rural education at the University of Indianapolis Center of Excellence in Leadership of Learning.

District 4 - Northwest

Republican Ryan Locke won his seat over Democrat Melanie Brown with 56% of the vote.

Locke is an attorney and third-generation Carmel resident. Through his role at the state treasurer's office, Locke oversaw the day-to-day operations of the treasury and its related entities, including but not limited to Indiana’s Statewide 911 Program and the Indiana Board for Depositories.

Brown said while she was disappointed in Tuesday’s results she is hopeful for what this means for the future of Democrats winning more seats in Carmel.

“I think that we’ve shown that there’s a lot of Democrats in Carmel and if we mobilize and get people to the polls we’ll have a shot in the future,” Brown told IndyStar.

Brown, a pharmacist and 18-year resident of the Northwest district, volunteered as a coach with Carmel Dad’s Club, Carmel Elementary PTO President, Carmel Middle School FAM Club President and Vice President of Carmel High School Concert Bands.

District 5 - South Central

Republican Tony Green, the seat's incumbent, defeated Democrat Jessica Irvine by nearly 10 percentage points, winning about 55.3% of the vote.

Green was first elected to the council in 2017 through a Republican caucus to fill former councilor Carol Schleif's vacant seat. He won reelection in 2019. Green, a graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy, is currently the chief legal and compliance officer for the Indiana Public Retirement System and is an adjunct professor of law at Indiana University McKinney School of Law.

Irvine is a senior environmental manager for the Indiana Department of Environmental Management and a 30-plus-year resident of the Home Place neighborhood in Carmel.

District 6 - West

According to unofficial results, Democrat Joshi defeated Republican Loren Matthes with about 52.5% of the vote.

Joshi thanked campaign volunteers at Miles Nelson’s watch party Tuesday night saying that Carmel Democrats now must maintain momentum they gained during this election.

Joshi, a pediatrician with a Crawfordsville-based practice, is a member of the Hindu Temple of Central Indiana and serves on boards for the Center for Interfaith Cooperation, the Women's Fund of Central Indiana and the Brebeuf Jesuit Preparatory School Board of Trustees.

“We have brought a huge new pool of diverse people into Carmel,” Joshi said during her acceptance speech. “We have brought people who have never come out to vote ever in their lives out to vote. We have a wave coming and next year is our year.”

IndyStar reporter Caroline Beck contributed to this report.

Rachel Fradette is a suburban education reporter at IndyStar. Contact her at rfradette@gannett.com or follow her on Twitter at @Rachel_Fradette.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: General election 2023: Here's who is running for Carmel City Council