Fourth Ward City Council Seat — A History of Leadership and Community Voice

The Fourth Ward City Council seat has long carried political and symbolic importance in Evansville, particularly within the city’s Black community.

In 1967, Rev. Dr. John Caldwell was elected to the Evansville City Council, becoming the first African American elected official in the city. His election represented a breakthrough moment and established the Fourth Ward as a focal point of Black civic engagement and political representation.

In the years that followed, the seat continued to be shaped by local leaders rooted in community service. James M. Landers, elected in 1979, brought years of neighborhood advocacy to the role and later served on the Vanderburgh County Council, reflecting the Fourth Ward’s role as a pipeline for broader civic leadership.

That tradition continued with the election of Constance “Connie” Robinson-Blair in 1995. Over more than two decades, Robinson-Blair became the longest-serving City Council member in Evansville history and the first African American woman to serve as council president, helping guide the city through periods of change while maintaining deep ties to the Fourth Ward.

More recently, Alex Burton represented the Fourth Ward beginning in 2020 before his election to the Indiana House of Representatives, continuing the ward’s legacy of elevating leaders to higher office. He was followed by Tanisha Carothers, whose selection through a party caucus — and subsequent resignation amid eligibility challenges — brought renewed scrutiny to the caucus process itself.

For many in the Fourth Ward, that history has set expectations not only about who holds the seat, but how decisions about representation should be made.