James Mueller elected mayor of South Bend

Democrat James Mueller has been elected mayor of South Bend, beating out Republican Sean Haas.

Mueller says it's more than just about him taking over for the current mayor.

"I want to give credit to my opponent and my grade school friend, Sean, for making this race more competitive, but it is important that we won resoundingly to send a message: Trumpism has no place in South Bend. And we're going to take this momentum into 2020, with our next president standing right over there," Mueller said, pointing to Mayor Pete Buttigieg.

Before Mueller's first day of office on Jan. 1, he says there's a lot of planning that needs to be done, including determining who will serve in his administration.

Tuesday night, Mayor Pete Buttigieg praised his former chief of staff for returning to their hometown and running for the right reasons.

"I think he's going to be a great public servant as he has been in other ways for the city, and I think he's going to have his own style, his own priorities, and he's definitely got the preparation. He's got the heart. He's got the intellect. He [understands] what our city needs going forward," explained Buttigieg, one of the remaining Democratic presidential candidates.

The next South Bend mayor will be the classmate of the other. Republican Sean Haas and Democrat James Mueller were in the same grade together at St. Anthony de Padua School on the city's east side. They played together on the same sports teams, but now it's all business as each man vies for the top seat in South Bend.

Haas, an Army veteran, is a high school social studies teacher in St. Joseph County. Mueller is the former chief of staff for Mayor Pete Buttigieg and most recently was the executive director of the city's community investment department before he took a leave of absence to focus on his campaign.

"I know how to get things done in government, and I've been delivering results for years. That experience is an important piece, and that's what I think separates [me and Sean] apart the most," stated Mueller.

Haas thinks his perspective as the "normal citizen" makes him the right person for the job.

"I think one of the best things our [country's] founders did when they created our system is they didn't put really any requirements on having experience as being a public official or government official," explained Haas. "I think if you have passion for service, if you want to help your community succeed, I think, really, that's all you need, because even if you're not an expert in every single aspect of government and how it runs, I think you can surround yourself with people in that sense."

Mueller has touted continuing the success of the past eight years under Buttigieg as one of his platforms in addition to ensuring frank conversations take place about public safety.

"Right now, it seems the gap is wider than we would have hoped between where particularly the [Fraternal Order of Police] is and where our community expects us to be. And so, as mayor, I've got to have tough, honest conversations and communicate with our city employees of what's expected of us from the community. We're all public servants, and we've got to figure out how to get there. At the same time, we have to have tough, honest conversations with the community of what's possible. There are things that not everyone is aware of in terms of complications of what we can implement. [We've] got to have conversations all around and bring people together," Mueller told 16 News Now.

Haas would like to see more money in the city's budget allocated toward paving roads and wants police to have a greater community presence to help regain any trust that's been lost with the public.

"I want [the community] to see the police officers -- not just as people who are there in uniform to protect us, but also as citizens of the city that are bought in just as much to our progress," Haas said. "I want to make sure we do more community outreach, whether it's getting them out in roles that are not necessarily seen as law enforcement but also kind of showing them or at least showcasing what they do with their jobs, getting into schools, showing [students] how they do their jobs."