Gary Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson Loses Bid For Third Term In Democratic Primary
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Lake County Assessor Jerome Prince appears to have defeated Gary Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson in Tuesday's Democratic primary elections.
In a field of nine candidates, Prince was leading with 48.2% of the vote, ahead of Freeman-Wilson with 37.5%, according to unofficial results from the Lake County Board of Elections.
No Republicans ran for mayor of Gary in Tuesday's primaries.
Freeman-Wilson, the first woman to serve as mayor of Gary, and the first black woman mayor in Indiana, was first elected in 2011.
In 2015, she said her proudest accomplishment was getting the Gary/Chicago International Airport up and running again. The FAA had threatened to close its control tower in 2013, as part of a federal austerity policy, but it didn't happen.
However, there has been no significant commercial airline service at the airport since Allegiant Air shut down its operations there in 2013. It currently serves mainly as a general aviation, corporate, and cargo airport.
An extension of its main runway was completed in 2015.
Freeman-Wilson has said she hoped to teach public policy one day after she wrapped up her career in politics.