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Fort Wayne Mayor Tom Henry has passed away after a brief battle with cancer.

Few surprises in Fort Wayne primary elections, Auburn mayor upset in DeKalb

Campaign signs dot the yard outside a north side polling place in Fort Wayne Tuesday.
Tony Sandleben
/
WBOI News
Campaign signs dot the yard outside a north side polling place in Fort Wayne Tuesday.

Voter turnout was lower this year in Fort Wayne than usual, even though there were a number of contested races on both sides of the aisle for the mayoral race.

In early unofficial results Tuesday evening, 3rd District City Councilman Tom Didier ran away with the nomination to challenge incumbent Democrat Mayor Tom Henry in November.

Fort Wayne 3rd District Councilman Tom Didier accepts the Republican nomination for mayor Tuesday night.
Tony Sandleben
/
WBOI News
Fort Wayne 3rd District Councilman Tom Didier accepts the Republican nomination for mayor Tuesday night.

Didier garnered 64 percent of the vote, beating 4th District Councilman Jason Arp, and local businessman Eddie Riebel, who gathered 33 percent and around 1.5 percent respectively.

"I’m going to be that approachable mayor, one that you can come up and talk to me about anything, and I’m going to be there for them. It’s going to be a different kind of feel," Didier said after receiving the nomination.

A fourth Republican candidate, Jesse Cramer, was on the ballot but had dropped out after the deadline.

Henry, who is finishing up his fourth term, had an easy time with Democratic challenger Jorge Fernadez, collecting 78 percent of the vote, according to unofficial results.

In order to run for mayor, Arp and Didier had vacated their seats on city council.

In the third district, Republicans Nathan Hartman and Mike Thomas squared off, with Hartman bringing in 58 percent of the vote according to unofficial results.

And in the fourth district, Scott Myers edged out Joe Townsend for the Republican nomination, with 55.5 percent of the vote.

On the Democratic ballot in the fourth district, Patti Hays soundly defeated Bob Behr, with nearly 81 percent of the vote total.

Even for municipal primary elections, voter turnout this year was relatively low–at around 10 percent in Allen County, compared to more than 14 percent in 2019, according to the Allen County Election Board.

Elsewhere in northeast Indiana:

In DeKalb County, Auburn Mayor Mike Ley lost to challenger Dave Clark, a local real estate agent and former firefighter for the City of Auburn, in the Republican primary.

Clark gathered nearly 52.8 percent of the vote to Ley’s 47.2 percent, according to unofficial results.

In Steuben County, where longtime Democratic Angola Mayor Richard Hickman is not seeking re-election, there was a contested race in the Republican primary.

Former Angola City Councilman Dave Martin pulled in nearly 73 percent of the vote, defeating Colleen Everage.

The general election will be Nov. 7.

Rebecca manages the news at WBOI. She joined the staff in December 2017, and brought with her nearly two decades of experience in print journalism, including 15 years as an award-winning reporter for the Journal Gazette in Fort Wayne.