POSTED: Wednesday, December 10, 2008/JACH News Service               WEST LAFAYETTE -- Randy Truitt said he is happy to be out political limbo a month after winning the Indiana State House District 26 race by the narrowest of margins. Truitt, a former two-term West Lafayette councilor-at-large, said he is ready to mend fences and serve as the district's new representative.             "I think I've maintained a level of control and I was always at peace with the process," Truitt told OurTown.com last week. "I was very happy to see the results that validated of the victory on election night."             Truitt won the House 26 seat by a mere 26 votes against Democratic challenger John Polles. Truitt's margin increased to 37 votes in the recount and a challenge of votes in Warren and Tippecanoe counties were dropped by the Polles camp on Sunday.             Truitt's victory was noteworthy for a couple of reasons. First, it was a pickup for the Republicans in a county that had 9,000 new voters cast their ballots. The seat was previously held by Democrat Joe Micon, the executive director of Lafayette Urban Ministry.             "If you add the number of new voters coming in, common sense would tell you that they weren’t floating down the direction of the Republican-type of individual," Truitt said. "You would think it would have been a blow out in other directions. The win is humbling and I'm proud to serve District 26."             Truitt said, though, he knows he has a lot work ahead of him, acknowledging the diversity of the district that appears by the vote to be deeply divided. He said has already begun to make inroads to bring people together.             "I was sworn in and had moved forward the best I could," Truitt said of the time between the election and the official recount. "I attended functions, spoke on behalf the area, returned phone calls to constituents. If the results were flipped I don’t think it was wasted time and I felt it was important that District 26 had representation and operated that way."             Truitt has deep roots in the community. A graduate of West Lafayette High School and Purdue University in the School of Technology, he is president of Main Street Management, LLC. Main Street Management is a property management company, specializing in commercial buildings, parking garages and 26 residential homeowners associations in Lafayette and Central Indiana, Truitt said. Before starting Main Street Management with other partners about two years ago, he worked with his father's medical device company and started sleep lab development companies in Lafayette and Carmel. Truitt, who earned his MBA from Indiana Wesleyan University in 2002, said he believes his experience in creating businesses and job opportunities for others will help him in Indiana as legislators try to figure out how to bring much needed jobs to Indiana. "(Small businesses) are important to the economy, important to economic development and it better be embraced across the board," Truitt said. "If you don’t have economic development, then you don’t have the vibrant community, don’t have housing starts and the whole thing." Truitt said his experience on West Lafayette's city council will also play a valuable role in his decision-making, particularly with the current effort to streamline local and county governments. He said he hopes to be a voice for those municipalities when regulations are brought to the forefront. John Dennis, West Lafayette mayor, said he believes Truitt will be a strong ally for cities like West Lafayette and will to bring resources to the community. "He and I are about a decade apart in this community so our paths rarely crossed, but since we’ve been involved in local government he has proven to be a real sound thinking, a really good decision maker and really passionate about West Lafayette," Dennis said. "I’m sure that will really come through in his new position as state representative. I think he’s going to be outstanding." Vicki Burch, who served with Truitt on the West Lafayette council as well, said she believes Truitt's love for the area and his business and personal skills will make him standout in the statehouse. "I have had the privilege of working with Randy on the West Lafayette city council and have first-hand knowledge of Randy's exceptional abilities as an elected representative and his genuine dedication to the community where he was raised," Burch said. "As your next state representative for District 26, Randy will bring a breath of fresh air to the state legislature."             Truitt said engaging the public will be a high priority in an effort to keep those new 9,000 voters and everyone else in the loop.             "I’m going to spend time with focus groups, have a variety of different open office hours to make myself more available to individuals," Truitt said. "I think I'm a pretty approachable individual. I want to make sure that’s known out there. When they see me, I want them to feel comfortable to talk to me whether it’s at a supermarket or at a basketball game, or church."             Truitt, the father of two sons and a daughter, has long made community involvement important. He has served in various capacities with Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Wabash Valley, United Way of Greater Lafayette, the Hills and Dales Neighborhood Association, the National Football League-Northwest Indiana Chapter, Wabash Valley Trust for Historical Preservation and Covenant Presbyterian Church.             He has also helped raise funds for the YMCA, Muscular Dystrophy Association and the Art Museum of Greater Lafayette. He led the fundraising efforts for renovations to West Lafayette's Little League baseball complex and he is a board member for West Lafayette Little League, Red Storm Athletics and the West Lafayette Alumni Association.             Truitt said his wife, Krista Duncan Truitt, takes care of family taxi service for their children, Peyton, Gabrielle and Harrison, to all of their extracurricular activities and quickly points out that her job is much tougher than his.             Dennis said the thing that impresses him the most about Truitt is that he doesn't get caught up in the politics of politics. He said he believes Truitt has a clear vision of priorities, which will make him even more effective in Indianapolis.             "In my short term in politics, I've run into a lot of people with their priorities out of whack," Dennis said. "They put their political party and political affiliation before their faith. They care more about the party than the community. Randy Truitt has his priorities straight. He puts family first, his faith second, and his job third. That’s how it should be. That makes him a very quality person."