All county candidates for the 2024 primary election had until noon Friday to turn their pre-primary campaign finance report in to the county clerk’s office.
The reports are for the reporting period of Jan. 1 to April 12, 2024. All county candidates for the primary are Republicans.
Northern Dist. Commissioner
Running for northern district county commissioner are Nathan Scherer, Marcia Baumgartner and Sue Ann Mitchell. Incumbent Brad Jackson decided not to seek re-election.
Nathan Scherer for Political Office listed his contributions and receipts total as $34,236.40, with Scherer being the largest contributor at $30,000.
Expenditures were $12,454.14, leaving him cash on hand at $21,782.26. His largest expenditures (of over $1,000) included The Papers, $1,545; Signs on the Cheap, $1,194.12; Vista Print, $1,128.82; Maverick Promotions, $1,151.59; Kensington Digital Media, $1,320; and The Owl’s Nest, $2,665.23.
He listed his debt owed as a loan of $30,000.
Baumgartner listed no contributions and no expenditures in her report, along with no debt.
Elect Sue Ann Mitchell - County Commissioner lists contributions for her campaign as $2,100. The largest contribution was $1,000 from the Committee to Elect Joe Thallemer.
Expenditures are listed as $1,298.88, with the largest piece of that being $854.87 for Signs on the Cheap. The remaining expenditure was to the Warsaw Parks and Recreation Department for facility rental.
Middle District Commissioner
Middle District Commissioner Cary Groninger is unopposed for the primary. His report lists no contributions, no expenditures and no debt.
Coroner
In the race for county coroner, it’s incumbent Tyler Huffer against Tracy Cutler-Wilson.
The report from the Committee to Elect Tyler Huffer for Coroner lists contributions and receipts as $5,310. The largest contributions came from Huffer himself in amounts of $2,000, $300 and $1,000. Ken and Brenda Collins also contributed $1,000.
Expenditures are listed as $6,355.45 and debt owed is $4,309.66. Huffer’s largest expenditures were $3,003 from Blue River Digital and $1,030 from InkFreeNews.
Families for Cutler-Wilson for Coroner lists $13,000 in contributions and $10,057.45 in expenditures with no debt.
The largest contributions were a total of $2,500 from James Boggs and $7,200 from Michael and Tracy Wilson. The largest expenditure was $5,627.24 from Indiana Dimensional Products (IDP), North Webster.
Council
The three county council at-large seats are unopposed in the primary as there’s only three candidates - incumbent Kathleen Groninger, Delynn Geiger and Rachael Rhoades. Councilwoman Joni Truex did not seek re-election and Mitchell is running for northern district county commissioner.
Groninger listed $100 in contributions, from herself, and expenditures of $100 to the Kosciusko County GOP. No debt is owed.
Geiger did not list his contributions and expenditures on page 1 of his report. However, he did list expenditures as totaling $676.99 on another page of the report.
Running with Rhoades lists contributions as $5,181.62, with only a $300 contribution from Larry Coplen listed. Expenditures are listed as $5,022.50, leaving cash on hand at $159.12.
Expenditures include $3,660 to Eagle Outdoor Sign Co. Inc.; $1,012.50 to Blue River Digital; and $250 to The Romine Group.
Circuit Court Judge
Two men are vying for the judgeship in Circuit Court I, Matthew Buehler and Jack Birch. Current Judge Mike Reed chose not to seek re-election.
The Committee to Elect Jack Birch listed contributions as $14,255. The largest contributions were $4,000 from Jack Birch; $2,000 from Randy Birch; $4,500 from Ted Kramer; and $1,500 from Richard Parish.
Expenditures totaled $9,129.37, and cash on hand listed as $5,125.63. The largest expenditures were $4,500 (in-kind) to Kramer and $1,500 (in-kind) to Parish.
Debt owed by committee is $11,972.30, with $4,600 owed to Jack Birch and $7,372.30 to IDP.
The Committee to Elect Matthew Buehler lists contributions as $7,965.41, with the largest contributions coming from Michael Stinfer, $1,000; John and Maria Tucker, $2,500; George Clemens, $1,000; and Matthew and Jennier Buehler, $1,465.41.
Expenditures are listed as $1,565.41, leaving cash on hand at $6,400. Debt owed by the committee is $6,707.82.
The largest expenditure is $6,707.82 to IDP.
Clerk
Melissa Boggs is unopposed for the primary for county clerk of the Circuit and Superior Courts. Her finance report lists no contributions, expenditures or debt.
Incumbent Ann Torpy could not seek re-election this year due to term limits.
Surveyor
With incumbent Mike Kissinger not seeking re-election as county surveyor, two men - James Moyer and Ryan Prince - are hoping to convince voters to elect them as his replacement.
The Committee to Elect James Moyer lists contributions as $800, with $500 of that coming from David Moyer. Expenditures are listed as $3,315.18, with the most of that going to Graycraft Signs. Cash on hand and debt are listed as zero.
Prince doesn’t list any contribution amount on page 1 of his report, but he has expenditures and cash on hand both listed as $705.67. Inside the report, he has contributions form himself listed totaling $705.67 and expenditures listed as $589.72 to Graphicon Inc. and $115.95 to VistaPrint.
Treasurer
Incumbent Michelle Puckett is unopposed in the primary. Her report lists $262.62 as contributions and expenditures with no debt owed.
Party Committees
All political action committees (PACs) and regular party committees had until noon Friday to also file their campaign finance reports.
The Kosciusko County Republican Central Committee had cash on hand and investments at the beginning of the reporting period totaling $26,208.24. Contributions totaled $22,743.20, for a total of $48,951.44.
Expenditures totaled $28,141.42, leaving cash on hand at $20,810.02.
The two largest contributions listed in the report were $920 from Tracy Cutler-Wilson and $1,000 from state Rep. Craig Snow.
The largest expenditures (of over $1,000) were $1,987.18 to Chair Mike Ragan; $8,960.02 to Kosciusko County Republican Women’s Club; $4,670.46 to Creighton’s Roost; $2,500 to CASA; $3,600 to Corner Post Realty; $2,665 to Jonah Original Fish; and $1,171.65 to The Owl’s Nest.
No other reports were filed with the clerk’s office by Friday’s deadline.