Municipal primaries took place in Northeast Indiana and around the state Tuesday. WBOI’s Zach Bernard and Rebecca Green have put together a summary of results for races in the region.
Fort Wayne
Tim Smith defeated John Crawford in the heated Republican mayoral primary by a final count of 56% to 42%.
Smith entered the running as a relative outsider with minimal political experience, instead spending his last 25 years at MedPro, where he serves as the insurance provider’s senior vice president.
He enthusiastically accepted the nomination at Allen County’s Republican Headquarters Tuesday night, calling for every Republican’s participation and unity in unseating Democratic incumbent mayor Tom Henry in November.
“Tom Henry has never seen a campaign like we’re about to launch for the General Election. Tom Henry has never run against someone with my background and my energy but more importantly, with the energy of this room and the collective talents in this room,” Smith said to applause.
Crawford kept his remarks brief, congratulating Smith on a “well-run” campaign but focusing more on his volunteers.
“A lot of people have been very, very nice to us during this campaign," said Crawford. "We left it all on the field, we worked as hard as we could, and we have no regrets.”
Smith and Crawford ran friendly campaigns against each other until April, when Smith ran an ad critical of his opponent’s voting history as a member of Council. Crawford took exception to this, noting it as divisive and “bad for the party,” while Smith defended the move as “exposing records.”
But Tuesday night, Smith extended much praise for Crawford’s history as a public servant.
“More than a formidable opponent, councilman Crawford has been, and still is as the president, an A+ city councilman for 20 years,” Smith said.
Crawford’s Republican colleague, at-large councilman Michael Barranda, says he’s excited to work with Smith to get a Republican into the Fort Wayne mayor’s office. While he complimented the work of both candidates, he says candidates with a voting record tend to face more scrutiny than newcomers.
‘’When you have a record, there are lots of reasons not to vote for somebody," said Barranda. "They’re both really great people, Tim’s a great guy, and he doesn’t have any reason for anyone to vote against him; John has some reasons for people to vote against him because he has a record, and that’s going to tip the scales.”
Smith will have a difficult challenge ahead, as he’ll square off against incumbent Democratic mayor Tom Henry, who won his primary Tuesday night with a whopping 86% share of the vote. Henry will be seeking his fourth term as mayor.
The Democratic race wasn’t nearly as tight; challenger and perennial candidate Gina Burgess only mustered 11%, while Tommy Schrader barely scratched the surface with 3%.
Schrader was also arrested Tuesday evening near a Kroger on State Boulevard for defacing bus stop signs with a swastika and inappropriate language.
At the City Council level, Barranda and Tom Freistroffer took their primaries and will look to hang onto their at-large seats for four more years. The third at-large seat is currently occupied by Crawford, but due to his mayoral run it will be open to a newcomer in 2020.
On the Republican side, that newcomer is Nathan Hartman. Barranda spoke highly of his work on the campaign trail.
“You work hard, and usually, primary elections in particular, they reward the hardest worker, and I think without a doubt Nathan was the hardest worker of all of us,” he said.
Here is an early look at the various Fort Wayne City Council races on the November ballot (incumbents in bold):
At-Large (Three Seats)
- Michael Barranda (R)
- Tom Freistroffer (R)
- Nathan Hartman (R)
- Michelle Chambers (D)
- Glynn Hines (D)
- Steve Corona (D)
1st District
- Paul Ensley (R) (uncontested)
2nd District
- Russ Jehl (R) (uncontested)
3rd District
- Tom Didier (R)
- John Henry (D)
4th District
- Jason Arp (R)
- Patti Hays (D)
5th District
- Geoff Paddock (D)
- Taylor Vanover (R)
6th District
- Sharon Tucker (D) (uncontested)
Northeast Indiana
New Haven had a three-way race for mayor in the Republican primary. In that contest, councilman Steve McMichael defeated Robert “Bob” Nelson and Steve Poiry.
Warsaw Mayor Joe Thallemer appears to have easily staved off a challenge from Councilman Ron Shoemaker in the Republican primary.
In Huntington, County Commissioner Larry Buzzard upset two-term Huntington Mayor Brooks Fetters in the Republican primary. Roughly 25% of the voters turned out. Buzzard won by about 9%.
In Bluffton, 4th District City Councilman Chuck King defeated Douglas Sundlin in the Democratic primary. Incumbent and long-serving Mayor Ted Ellis, a Democrat, is not seeking re-election after the end of this term. King will take on Republican John Whicker in November.
Angola City Councilman Joe Hysong easily defeated Justin Don Kent, owner of a local real estate company and part-time home health aide.
Auburn businessman Michael Ley handily defeated Pete Stinson in that city’s race for the Republican nomination for mayor.
