Four years ago, local GOP leaders told the Herald-Times that the Indiana GOP was not invested in Monroe County.
But at the Monroe County GOP’s ribbon cutting for its new headquarters in downtown Bloomington last week, a shift in tone was apparent. The event attracted state and local political heavy-hitters such as Secretary of State Diego Morales, State Representative for House District 62 Dave Hall (R-Norman), and Ellettsville town councilman William Ellis.
Morales, a Republican whose office oversees elections for Indiana, says he regards Monroe County as an opportunity for growth in the GOP. Because of the large student population, it’s a focus for voting efforts.
“I want as many students (as possible) to be part of the election process,” he said. “We're trying to register them to vote.”
The local GOP elected new leadership this spring. Its new chair is Cory Grass, Governmental Affairs Director for Indiana Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith. The party’s new vice chair is Noelle Conyer, who is also clerk treasurer for Ellettsville.
The GOP has experienced “ebbs and flows” in Monroe County, Conyer said, “and I think with this new headquarters, we're trying to revitalize people to get involved.”
Monroe County and Bloomington are often referred to as a “blue dot” in Indiana’s sea of red. And that’s largely the case. Bloomington’s had a Democratic mayor since 1972. The last time it had a Republican on the city council was Brad Wisler in 2011.
The Monroe County Council’s seven-member body has one Republican. The last time Monroe County elected a Republican commissioner was 2008.
House District 62 — which includes the Monroe County area surrounding Bloomington, along with all of Brown County, and a portion of Jackson County — has been represented by Republican Dave Hall from Jackson County since 2022. It’s considered one of the most competitive seats in the state. He won the seat by fewer than 100 votes the first time he ran.
“I was for sure an underdog in 2022,” Hall said.
Hall said finding out what Monroe County voters wanted from a representative took a lot of door-knocking. One of the main concerns he heard was affordability.
He was reelected last year by fewer than 800 votes.
The new headquarters is a “good start” to gaining ground for Monroe County Republicans, Hall said. But with tight voting margins, “regardless of what tools” the party brings, “it's going to take a lot of work to get people to vote for them and to earn that trust in the community.”
At a national level, Monroe County hasn’t voted for a Republican presidential candidate since George Bush in 2000. It diverged from the nation in 2004 with John Kerry, the narrowest margin the county’s had for a presidential candidate in the last 20 years. The candidate to win by the widest margin was Obama in 2008.
But along with representation at the statehouse, the county does have pockets of solid Republican support. Ellettsville hasn’t elected a Democrat to town council since 2004.
And the party has momentum, Conyer said. In the last year the state GOP has been “transformative,” she said, bringing tools and training for county leadership to implement.
“I think that you're going to see it translate down here in Monroe County,” she said. Next, she added, the party needs to find good candidates for local elections.
Conyer said Monroe County voters are looking for candidates who will work on fiscal responsibility through taxes and budgets, maintaining services, and reducing crime.
“If you're paying attention to certain things, there's been an increase in that,” she said. “…That's something I know personally that I'm looking at.”
The headquarters ribbon cutting was put on in connection with the Greater Bloomington Chamber of Commerce, a nonpartisan organization for local business. Its president and CEO Eric Spoonmore said the ribbon cutting is a service his organization offers all its members when they join the chamber.
Spoonmore used to be a Monroe County Councilman and ran as a Democrat. He said to make headway, the Republican party needs visibility, which the new headquarters provides.
The path to victory for any candidate or party that wants to win local elections, Spoonmore said, lies in policies that “help ordinary, everyday people achieve their goals of prosperity. And I don't think that is necessarily a Democrat or Republican thing.”
Note: A previous version of the article said, "The candidate to win by the widest margin was Obama in 2012."
