Terre Haute’s Duke Bennett says he’ll run for a fifth term as mayor. He says it’s a decision he doesn’t take lightly.
“It's more than you ever expect to do. The hours are long, and sometimes the, you know, the positives come from the community working hard together. And that's what we've seen. And it's an exciting time right now,” Bennett said.
If he wins and serves another full term, Bennett would hold the mayor’s office for 20 years.
Read More: Terre Haute's Bennett on water park feasibility, art spaces, re-election
Bennett says the biggest challenge was recovering from state property tax caps. He says the city was borrowing up to $9 million in 2017 and has cut that down to $1.5 million for 2023 – with plans to be at zero for 2024.
“Our budget was solid for the year, we're going to finish, balanced again, with some excess revenues, that will go into reserves.”
He says the new convention center and police station and landing the casino are big accomplishments that took years to complete.
A Republican, Bennett was first elected in 2007 by a narrow margin but won re-election in 2011 by more than 3,000 votes. He won in 2015 and 2019 by a few hundred votes.
Indiana primaries are May 2. The general election is Nov. 7.
