GREENFIELD — In a nail-biter of an election, Guy Titus won the three-way race for the Republican candidacy to become the next mayor of Greenfield.
He bested his opponent, Greenfield city councilman Kerry Grass, by just 14 votes.
A packed house of more than 70 people gathered at the Hancock County Courthouse Annex to hear the results Tuesday night, which came in just after 7:30 p.m.
Titus was still processing the numbers as the other election results were announced when his wife squeezed his hand and said, “I think we just won.”
Titus, Grass and Greenfield Street Commissioner Tyler Rankins spent the past several months sharing their individual platforms with local voters.
In the end, Titus came away with 837 votes (43%), Grass had 823 votes (42%) and Rankins had 290 votes (15%).
All three candidates appeared calm while gathered in the annex for nearly 90 minutes before the first poll results came in. All three were dressed casually in their campaign shirts and denim jeans, having greeted voters at the polls throughout the day.
After the results were announced, each candidate turned to friends and family members for hugs and handshakes after a hard-fought race.
“I’m excited. I’m thrilled. I’m humbled,” said Titus as a string of supporters lined up to congratulate him.
All three candidates commended each other on running a clean race.
“I want to congratulate Guy and thank both of my opponents for running a good race. We all put on a clean race,” said Grass, who made a special point to thank his wife, Beth Ann, for supporting him throughout the campaign.
“She’s been with me 100% of the time,” said Grass, who said he plans to continue serving the people of Greenfield in District 5 as a city council member.
Rankins said he also looks forward to continuing to serve the people of Greenfield as street commissioner, despite losing his first political race.
“This race was a great experience. I learned so much,” said Rankins, who said this won’t be his last time running for political office.
Titus was overjoyed to have won his first political race, which will now give him the chance to run for mayor in the general election on Nov. 7, when he will face fellow political newcomer Nate Anderson, who ran unopposed on the Democratic ticket for mayor in the primary.
With another six months to go before the fall election, Titus took some time to celebrate with family after his victory Tuesday night.
“The stress is over, at least for a little while,” he said with a smile.
Before the votes were announced, outgoing Greenfield mayor Chuck Fewell reflected on what would be his last primary election as a politician.
“It’s been a great 10 years,” said Fewell, who was voted into office by a Republican caucus in 2013 after the death of former mayor Dick Pasco. He went on to win significant majorities in two elections, in 2015 and 2019.
For months, Fewell has jokingly kept a countdown of his numbers of days left in office.
“Two hundred forty-two,” he said Tuesday night when asked for the latest update.
All jokes aside, Fewell commended the three Republican candidates for mayor on a hard-fought race.
“We’re very fortunate in that we had three great candidates running today,” Fewell said at the annex Tuesday before the vote tallies were read.
The race for Greenfield mayor wasn’t the only tightly contested race.
Two races for McCordsville Town Council seats were won by 7 and 11 votes, respectively.
After sharing that only 10 percent of eligible voters turned out for the spring primary, Hancock County Clerk Lisa Lofgreen said those closely contested races drive the point home that every vote counts.
“That’s why people need to get out and vote,” she said.
