Manigault Surprised at Luecke's Margin of Victory

by Samuel King (king@wsbt.com)

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Manigault Surprised at Luecke's Margin of Victory

Republican Juan Manigault speaks to his supporters after conceding the race for South Bend mayor to incumbent Steve Luecke, Nov. 6, 2007. (WSBT photo)

By Beth Boehne

Story Created: Nov 6, 2007 at 11:39 PM EST

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

(WSBT) Throughout Election Day Juan Manigault said he was optimistic he could beat the mayor. But he conceded the race for South Bend mayor at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday.

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Manigault and his supporters say they were surprised by Mayor Luecke's landslide win.

But Manigault believes the Republican Party and the city of South Bend has been re-energized.

Manigault tried to do what no Republican has done in four decades — be elected the mayor of South Bend.

He fell thousands of votes short of victory but he has no regrets about his campaign.

"I've always said from the very beginning that it's the citizens of our city who get to make the choice and they've chosen,” Manigault said. “And now they have to live with that choice. And I hope that the leaders who have been selected will pay attention to where the citizens are, because in order to move the city forward they're gonna have to go out and engage the citizens."

Manigault says it is now up to those citizens to hold the city's leaders accountable.

"You must never give our elected officials a free hand regardless of who they are and what they stand for because the Constitution of our great country says, ‘We the people’ not ‘I the leader,’" he said.

Manigault says he carried precincts that no Republican has ever before and that momentum can carry through to future elections.

"We created a lot of firsts as the Republican Party in South Bend Indiana,” he said. “We're back and we're not done yet."

Manigault says the city will be better served with two strong parties.

He says he will continue to speak out about the issues raised in the campaign, most notably economic development and crime.

He also did not rule out running again in the future.

To watch Juan Manigault's concession speech, click on the link in the Related Content box.

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