Allen County’s GOP primary Tuesday night shook up the county government.
With Allen County Commissioner Nelson Peters retiring at the end of the year, his seat had an open Republican primary for the first time in 20 years. County Councilman Tom Harris and East Allen County Schools Board Member Ron Turpin both ran for the position with Turpin edging out a victory, according to unofficial results. He said he looked forward to bringing change to the county government.
“Let’s do things in a different way,” Turpin said. ”It’s a new spirit of collaboration. I campaigned on an act model.”
In his concession speech, Harris said his career in government was not over.
“I want to make sure that we are doing good government locally, and I will keep that pursuit up maybe now more than ever,” Harris said.
Harris will remain on the Allen County Council along with Republican At-Large County Councilmen Robert Armstrong and Ken Fries. However, incumbent Kyle Kerley will not. In another tight race, according to unofficial results, Kerley lost to newcomer Lindsey Hammond Kerley had been on council since 2018.
As of now, Turpin is unopposed going into the November election.
