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    • How did Wayne County voters vote in the 2024 general election?
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    How did Wayne County voters vote in the 2024 general election?

    Sakege Posted on

    RICHMOND, Ind. — Of the more than 45,000 registered voters in Wayne County, about 25,779 votes were cast in this year’s general election, with 13 of 14 polling places reporting as of 10:30 Tuesday night.

    Republicans won every race where they were represented, and most races were uncontested by Democrats.

    Of the direct party votes, 10,091 were cast for the Republican Party, and 4,190 were for the Democratic Party. The Libertarian Party and the We the People Party obtained 74 and 174 votes, respectively.

    In the race for the presidency of the United States, Donald Trump received 16,741 votes, or 65% of the county, compared to 8,389 for Vice President Kamala Harris.

    Three voters at the polls Tuesday who voted for Trump and were unwilling to provide a last name — Joe, Connie and Elizabeth — gave a number of reasons why they voted for him.

    “Because the country needs a change,” Joe said. “I had never voted before, but it had to happen.”

    “It made me feel like there was still some hope, because I don’t feel that way too much,” Connie said. “The world is getting worse and worse and everyone wants hope. I hope he does what he says.”

    Elizabeth, a 37-year-old nurse, said she voted strictly Republican in part because of her family’s military background.

    “I grew up with a Marine father and saw what can happen when other people are in office,” he said. “I’ve been on the field for 16 years and I’ve seen a lot of damage done by opponents, so I’m ready for changes.”

    For Harris voters, like Joy Arnett, their reasons were based on fear for others.

    “I’m literally terrified of another Trump term,” she said. “I’m terrified for my daughters, for my entire family. There are a lot of us girls and I’m terrified for women.”

    Arnett said she started voting in 2016 because of Trump, adding that she was never interested in politics until he came into the picture.

    “I think we’re on the edge of a cliff,” he said. “We are in a very historic moment in this country and I want to be on the right side of history.”

    Jimmy Freiberger, Arnett’s son and Earlham College student who recently presented at the 25th World Congress of PhilosophyHe also voted for Harris.

    “I’m not a big fan of Donald Trump and there are several reasons for that,” he said. “I think he’s xenophobic and he’s pretty open about it, especially after the pets thing in Springfield. To me, that’s actually almost more dangerous than that policy, because it’s cultivating a sense of hate.”

    Freiberger said a point of contention for him with both Trump and Harris is international politics, specifically Gaza, adding that he thinks Trump would be worse than Harris.

    “Kamala is someone who can urge and push in a particular direction that I think is impossible.”

    Jamie Perez, another Harris voter who voted with Freiberger and Arnett, compared the Republican Party to Nazism.

    “It’s very interesting to me to see that what was once considered political poison…political suicide to compare Republicans to Hitler and fascism, the Nazi Party, is becoming normalized, and I think it’s because they’re finally allowing the mask is used”. slip,” Perez said. “This has always been what they were thinking about with the rhetoric they adopt.”

    Regardless of differences among voters, every voter interviewed agreed with how smooth the voting process was at First English Lutheran Church and First Kuhlman Center.

    “It was good,” Evan Puterbaugh said. “It was my second time voting and it was easy and simple. I don’t want to say joy, because we have to do it, but it wasn’t like pulling teeth or anything.”

    Mike Braun and Micah Beckwith captured the county’s vote for governor and lieutenant governor with 15,167 votes, or 60%, over Democratic rivals Jennifer McCormick and Terry Goodin, who received 8,877 votes.

    In the elections for the United States Senate and House of Representatives, Jim Banks and Jefferson Shreve each garnered 64% of Wayne County’s votes in their respective elections, defeating Democrats Valerie McCray and Cynthia Wirth.

    When the public question came about changing the state constitution to remove the state superintendent of public instruction from the governor’s line of succession, a majority of Wayne County voters decided not to remove him, with 10,642 against and 9,434 in favor.

    The statewide vote was too early to be called at the end of the night: 85.4% reported as of 10:41 a.m. Wednesday morning, with 53.7% in favor and 46.3% in against.

    Evan Weaver is a news and sports reporter at The Palladium-Item. Contact him at X (@evan_weaver7) or email [email protected].

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