Luecke Wins Decisively, Calls Victory a Mandate From Both Sides

by Dustin Grove (grove@wsbt.com)

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Luecke Wins Decisively, Calls Victory a Mandate From Both Sides

Incumbent South Bend Mayor Steve Luecke is greeted by his supporters after winning re-election Nov. 6, 2007. (WSBT photo)

By Beth Boehne

Story Created: Nov 6, 2007 at 10:06 PM EST

Story Updated: Jul 17, 2008 at 12:00 PM EST

(WSBT) It was a tough campaign, but in the end the race really wasn't that close. Tuesday, the mayor of South Bend added to his legacy.

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Steve Luecke, already South Bend's longest serving mayor, faced a tough fight from Republican Juan Manigault.

But the Democratic incumbent was a big winner with 62 percent of the vote to Manigault's 38 percent.

Luecke has lead South Bend for 11 years and Tuesday he was decisively given four more.

An hour after the polls closed in St. Joseph County, the Democratic party was a victory party.

"Tonight, this is a very, very sweet victory,” said Democratic Party Chair Butch Morgan.

And the king of the party, the mayor, called his victory a mandate.

“I take it as a mandate from those who voted for us and I also take it as a mandate from those who voted against us,” Luecke said in his victory speech. “I take it as a mandate to roll up our sleeves and get back to work and keep doing the great things that we're doing to bring good jobs to this community, to make our neighborhoods more vital, safer, to do quality of life issues, to work with our children. We're lifting South Bend up. We've got a great four years in front of us, thank you so much, God bless you all. Thank you, thank you, thank you.”

The mayor has taken a lot of heat in the last couple of months from Republican challenger Juan Manigault over issues like crime and jobs. When Manigault called the mayor to congratulate him, the mayor says he thanked Manigault for running a vigorous campaign and for raising issues that are important to this city.

To watch Luecke's entire victory speech, click on the link in the Related Content box.

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