The West Side Democratic Club erupted in applause Tuesday night, May 5, when city clerk candidate Kareemah Fowler walked into the building.

The Democrat received 8,198 votes to defeat her opponent, Derek Dieter. Dieter received 2,666 votes.

“I think my positive message really resonated with the voters and they wanted a change, so they sent a message,” Fowler said after the race was called. 

According to the preliminary numbers, a total of 10,864 South Bend voters cast a ballot in the city clerk race — 90 more than the 10,774 votes cast in the Democratic mayoral race.

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“I like to think that our support helped (Fowler), although she was a great candidate from day one and we were just adding to what was already a great campaign,” incumbent Mayor Pete Buttigieg, who endorsed Fowler in the race, said. “I think the biggest lesson of her campaign is positive campaigning does work. She ran a positive campaign that was about bringing people together and obviously voters responded to that in a big, big way.”

Fowler faces no Republican candidate in the November general election.

Buttigieg received 8,369 votes to overcome challenger Henry Davis Jr., who received 2,405 votes.

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“We thought turnout was gonna be more in the seven to 8,000 range,” Buttigieg said. “It’s a very healthy sign for our community. It shows that there are a lot of people who are involved, who are engaged and who care about the direction of our city.”

Buttigieg will face Republican Kelly Jones in November.