Mediaboss Marketing

January 2, 2015 Updated Jan 2, 2015 at 5:37 PM EST

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (21ALIVE) --- The beginning of 2015 generally begins our thinking about an event that comes around once every four years, were talking about the Fort Wayne Mayoral Election.

The Democrats would seem to have a big advantage going into the race, but the leader of the other main party is arguing that its "underdog" status could put it on a path to success in November.

Republican 4th District City Councilman Mitch Harper is the only candidate so far to publicly say he wants the job.

But it seems like only a matter of time before Democrat incumbent Mayor Tom Henry will announce and be the immediate favorite to win re-election.

Henry could make it 20 straight years of Democrats controlling city hall.

"That leads to abuse, to favoritism, to lethargy for individuals becoming content," said Allen County Republican Party Chairman Steve Shine, who insists that under Henry's command, city streets and neighborhoods have been neglected for 7 years, before Henry proclaimed a month ago that infrastructure improvements will be priority one in 2015.

"We need someone in the mayor's office who is a visionary, who can plan for such things as maintaining the infrastructure, who can get ahead of the crime situation and not be reactionary to it," Shine said.

The lack of vision argument, that Shine speaks of, may be a tough sell with voters.

Downtown development is booming, and during the 2015 mayoral race, the progress on the Ash Skyline project will be a constant reminder.

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Democrat Domination Of Mayor's Office Bad For Citizenry: Steve Shine