When talking about Muncie’s local politicians, we had one figure that’s unfortunately too irrelevant nowadays: Bob Cunningham. A former mayor in the late ‘70s who was an effective proponent of labor and civil rights, all without acting like the heads of 214. In his time he meant a lot to the community beyond his political career, but notably in his run for the mayors’ seat he went against a lot of opposition.
If we want to call them just a faction of the GOP, they were a loud and engaged Tea Party-esque group that weren’t far off from how the party is today. Granted, Ridenour as mayor hasn’t exploited brash partisanship like McShurley, but instead he and the local party are just quiet about such positions and actions. Ridenour today, in his estimation, can’t garner support if he were open open his intentions or else he would lose city elections.