Laura Giffel

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Laura Giffel

Republican Party

Elections and appointments

Last election

November 5, 2019

Laura Giffel (Republican Party) ran for election to the Indianapolis City Council to represent District 16. She lost in the general election on November 5, 2019.

Giffel completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2019. Click here to read the survey answers.

Elections

2019

See also: City elections in Indianapolis, Indiana (2019)

General election

General election for Indianapolis City Council District 16

Kristin Jones defeated Laura Giffel and Mike Smith in the general election for Indianapolis City Council District 16 on November 5, 2019.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Kristin Jones (D)	52.8	1,721
		Laura Giffel (R)	44.9	1,465
		Mike Smith (G)	2.3	75

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 3,261
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Indianapolis City Council District 16

Kristin Jones defeated Patrick Wagner in the Democratic primary for Indianapolis City Council District 16 on May 7, 2019.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Kristin Jones	72.1	595
		Patrick Wagner	27.9	230

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 825
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Indianapolis City Council District 16

Laura Giffel advanced from the Republican primary for Indianapolis City Council District 16 on May 7, 2019.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Laura Giffel	100.0	351

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 351
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Campaign themes

2019

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Laura Giffel completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2019. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Giffel's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

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What would be your top three priorities, if elected?

1) Determining a long-term infrastructure funding plan to address our deferred maintenance on roads, sidewalks, and alleys.

2) Supporting and advocating for our neighborhood associations at the Council

3) Supporting public safety at the Council through fully-funded police force that can implement beat-policing correctly.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

Through uniting strong, passionate neighbors we can work together to build stronger neighborhoods. As a Councilor, I believe in acting as a resource and advocate for groups working in our district. By creating an environment where community groups can thrive, these groups will best meet the needs of their neighbors. I will work to advocate for equitable investment and development across the city. In our district, the benefits of growth are not accessible to all residents. I believe in researching ways to keep long-term neighbors in their homes and enjoying the neighborhood they worked to create.

Indianapolis has an infrastructure crisis. Previous administrations have underfunded infrastructure maintenance and we have come to a point where we can no longer defer maintenance. Residents in the area are most concerned with main thoroughfares as well as their residential streets, alleys and sidewalks. Parts of the district do not have passable streets or alleys nor do they have any sidewalks. This is a huge safety issues as well as a quality of life problem for our city. Due to property tax caps and a poor gas tax formula, Indianapolis does not have the funds required to address deferred maintenance or build new infrastructure. As a Councilor, I will work to determine a long-term funding solution for our infrastructure. I also believe that a strategic plan to create the largest impact with the funds we have should be created.

Across the district the most pressing issue is drug related crimes. The intensity of the crimes varies in certain regions, but this is an issue that affects all neighborhoods. There is a correlation between strong neighborhood associations or crime watches and rates of violent crime, and I will continue to advocate for neighborhood leaders to be proactive and loud about the issues in their area. Many of our neighborhoods are excited about the return to beat policing but unfortunately due to staffing challenges we have yet to see this implemented. As reported, IMPD as lost as many officers as they recruited in 2018, which does not allow the change in policing patterns to take effect in most of our neighborhoods. To address this, I will ensure that our budget funds IMPD as well as request that we as a city examine the reasons for officers leaving IMPD.

What qualities do you possess that you believe would make you a successful officeholder?

I have served on the Bates-Hendricks Neighborhood Association board for 4 years as treasurer, vice president and am currently two years into my term as president. I believe that neighborhood leadership is the best experience for a Councilor since both require intimate knowledge of the issues in the area and the desire to better the quality of life for all residents. Over the past two years, I have created partnerships with other neighborhood associations, non-profits, government agencies and elected officials to ensure our neighbors are safe, inviting and healthy.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

See also

2019 Elections

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