Here's what to keep an eye on during Evansville's primary election night

Sarah Loesch, Evansville Courier & Press
·2 min read

EVANSVILLE — City residents hoping to keep an eye on the action Tuesday night won't have to work too hard with only one contested race on the ballot.

Republicans have a contested primary for mayor, with Current Vanderburgh County Commissioner Cheryl Musgrave and Director of Talent & Development at Kemper CPA Group Natalie Rascher vying for the spot.

But otherwise, it's a conflict-free evening for the other candidates on the ballots.

What race should I be keeping an eye on?

The only primary race with any mystery is who will be the Republican nominee for mayor between Musgrave and Rascher.

As the only contested race between both the Republicans and Democrats, it's the only one where voters don't already know the result.

Evansville mayoral Republican candidate Cheryl Musgrave.
Evansville mayoral Republican candidate Cheryl Musgrave.

More: Evansville GOP mayor hopefuls pull in hundreds of thousands of dollars from donors

How can I keep up with results as they come in?

With only one contested race there won't be a lot to keep up with, but some Evansville residents may be interested in watching as numbers roll in, not just hearing the winner at the end.

Evansville mayoral Republican candidate Natalie Rascher.
Evansville mayoral Republican candidate Natalie Rascher.

To do that visit the courierpress.com to keep up with the Republican mayoral primary in real time.

For the uncontested races, the percentages won't be interesting, but for anyone wanting to see how many voters came out for their candidate, they can visit the Vanderburgh County Election Office website where results are updated for all races.

Will I be seeing high turnout while watching results?

Based on historical turnout for municipal primaries, the answer is likely no.

In 2019, there were four contested races on the ballot, though mayor wasn't one of them.

  • 2,770 Democrats cast ballots

  • 2,223 Republicans cast ballots

In 2015, there were challenges to seven of the nine Evansville City Council members and a contested race on both sides of the aisle for city clerk. No mayoral primary was on the ballot.

In 2011, about 10% of registered voters came to the polls in the primary. That equaled 9,310 ballots.

  • Democrats had a contested primary for mayor that year, looking to see who would replace outgoing Jonathan Weinzapfel. The battle between Rick Davis and Troy Tornotta

  • Republicans had a contested primary for mayor between Lloyd Winnecke and Douglas DeGroot.

In 2007, 6% of city voters cast a ballot when there were 82,834 eligible voters in the city.

In 2003, it was 8.5% of voters.

This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: Here's what to follow during Evansville's primary election night