Canfield, and the sweep of 1963

1960 – 1980

Joseph M. Canfield: The Democrat who won the election of 1959 did it, in De Kever's words, "by the largest margin in the city's history" to that date. Joseph Canfield took office in January 1960 — the last mayor of the sixteen-year Democratic hold, and the incumbent whose defeat would end it.

The election of 5 November 1963: De Kever calls it "one of the landmark events in the political history of Mishawaka," and his account is the fullest the record carries. Margaret "Maggie" Prickett owned a supermarket in Twin Branch. She decided to run for mayor in 1963, defeated two other candidates in the Republican primary, and challenged Canfield on a well-organized campaign, a widespread desire for change, and her own personal popularity. A record turnout gave her the election, 7,561 votes to 5,815 — making her Mishawaka's first woman mayor and, as the Story of Mishawaka section records, the third woman elected mayor in Indiana. The sweep went all the way down the ticket: on the strength of her candidacy the Republicans took every other office in the election — all seven city council seats, the clerk-treasurer's office, and the city judgeship. "Never before and not since," De Kever writes, "has either political party in Mishawaka suffered such a lopsided defeat." The Political Graveyard's events list confirms the date and the pairing: 1963 Nov 5, Prickett (Rep) elected, Canfield (Dem) defeated. Prickett won three more terms — 1967, 1971 and 1975. De Kever's book prints her service as "from 1964-1980"; the arithmetic of four terms and of Robert Kovach's victory in November 1979 puts her last day at the end of 1979, sixteen years in the office, and both phrasings are printed here because the difference between them is exactly the kind this record does not smooth over. Her administration's acts — the Merrifield complex of 1968 and the University Park Mall annexation the Story of Mishawaka section calls her greatest legacy — are carried in the Story of Mishawaka section, the parks and malls records and the annexation entry below, not retold here.

Sources:

1. Peter J. De Kever, Mishawaka: A History — Canfield's record margin of 1959; the 1963 campaign whole: the primary, the 7,561–5,815 count, the record turnout, the sweep of all seven council seats, the clerk-treasurer and the city judge; "serving from 1964-1980."
2. The Political Graveyard, Mishawaka office page, events list — 1963 Nov 5: Margaret H. Prickett (Rep) elected; Joseph M. Canfield (Dem) defeated.
3. The Story of Mishawaka section fragment of this build — Prickett as the first woman mayor of Mishawaka and the third woman elected mayor in Indiana; her tenure carried as 1964–1979, sixteen years.