Roswarski secures record-tying sixth bid

Tony Roswarski beat Libertarian candidate Benjamin Milanowski and secured his sixth consecutive bid for mayorship of Lafayette.

Assuming he carries out his term to fruition, Roswarski ties the record for longest serving mayor in Lafayette, formerly set by Jim Rhiele who held the mayorship from 1971 to 1995.

As of 7:33 p.m., Roswarski leads with 82.21% of the votes while his opponent trails back at 18.04%.

Prior to the final tally, Roswarski said he was feeling good about his chances.
“I think we got our message across and I thank the fine people of Lafayette,” he said. “I appreciate their continued support and confidence and the direction that we’re going.”

Roswarski said that he was expecting his opponent to lead by this margin.

“When you look at a third party that would probably be about normal,” said Roswarski.

Roswarski also addressed potential criticism about the incoming industry and the pollution it may create.

“SIA,” said Roswarski. “First automaker in the United States to do zero landfill. They recycle everything. People in their homes put more in a landfill than the SIA Auto plant, and that’s our largest employer."

Roswarski has also addressed concerns against the LEAP pipeline.

“Our No. 1 issue is LEAP,” Roswarski said Nov. 2. “Whether it's Lafayette, West Lafayette or the county, the No. 1 issue that we are concerned with right now, and are constantly working on and is absorbing a significant amount of time, is trying to stop this potential transfer of water from Tippecanoe county.”

According to previous Exponent reporting, in order to meet the demands of the LEAP district, over 100 million gallons of water will have to be pumped from the Wabash Alluvial Aquifer every day.