GOP Sweeps County Offices

Once again, Republicans swept the local races, including Kosciusko County council and commissioners.

And not everyone is happy about it.

"If you're asking questions about the local candidates, I'm a little sick. They (Democrat candidates) worked awful hard not to get any more votes than what they got. ... I'm still going to try and get more people to run next election. We've got a lot of smart people here, and Democrats, in this county, if we can get them busy," said Kosciusko County Democrat Party chairwoman Frances Head Tuesday as the results trickled in.

There were 25,754 votes cast in the county Tuesday. Of those, 2,234 were straight Democrat party tickets. Straight Republican party tickets accounted for 7,180 votes. Libertarians accounted for 51 and Independents had 258 straight party tickets.

Head said, "There's a lot of Democrats here, we just can't, I'll use the expression, 'get them out of the closet.'" And if Democrats want to win in the next local elections, Head said, it will take "hard work on the part of the Democrats."

Northern District County Commissioner incumbent Brad Jackson won the race over Democrat opponent Melody Sherwood by approximately 11,000 votes.

"My first thought is that I appreciate the confidence the people of the county have in me as a commissioner," Jackson said today. He also said he didn't think the results would be that far apart.

He said he tries to attend every meeting and get the most for taxpayers' money. For each issue, he said, he looks at every possibility before making a decision.

"I want to continue to make sure we're spending our tax dollars in a fiscally conservative manner," he said.

In the next four years, he said, he also wants to see the Justice Building expansion project finished and under budget while making sure it's a good building.

Sherwood could not be reached for comment.

For the middle district county commissioner race, Republican Ron Truex received 15,920 votes; Democrat Joseph Banks III received 7,197; and Libertarian Michael R. Houze received 1,058 votes.

"It looked to me like the vote pretty much went down the party line," said Truex. He said the race was typical of the races in Kosciusko County.

He also said he wasn't surprised with the final results but, "... I thought it might be closer."

He said his goals for the next four years are to attend all the meetings and do what's best for the county. "I'm looking forward to working with (commissioners) Avis (Gunter) and Brad (Jackson) and all the (employees) of the county offices. I don't expect it to be an easy position. It's going to take a lot of time and effort."

Eddie Creighton, who did not run for re-election this year, owns Creighton Brothers. Truex works for Creighton Brothers. Truex said he hopes that with his large margin of victory, people elected him as a candidate and not because of his connection to Creighton Brothers.

"I hope so, and in the next four years, I'll show them that I am (my own person)," he said.

Banks agreed that the vote ran down party lines - "unquestionably." He said for Democrats to get a member of their party in office, "I think we'd have to emphasize voting for the candidate and not the party."

On not winning the race, he said, "My first thought is that the best man won and the people have spoken and we have to move on." He thanked God for the opportunity to run and his wife and supporters for the chance.

Though it's not in the forefront of his mind, he said "there's always a chance" he may run for an elected position again sometime.

Approximately 62 percent of Kosciusko County registered voters turned out for the election. Banks said, "I was expecting around 45 to 50 (percent). I'm really proud of the county with those turnout numbers."

Houze could not be reached for comment this morning.

In the county council at-large race, the three Republicans won by a wide margin over Democrat Daniel Slone and Libertarian Deanna Newton. Incumbent Republican Thomas Anglin had 16,791 votes; Maurice Beer had 15,594; and Larry Teghtmeyer had 16,287. Slone had 6,672 and Newton had 2,999.

"I didn't do as good as the other (Republican candidates)," said Beer, "but I'm pleased."

His goals for the next four years is to "try to be able to listen to the people" and use good judgment when making decisions.

On the election results, Anglin said, "They turned out great. I'm very pleased and just thankful."

He said he thought he was re-elected because "I've got a lot of years on the council and I'm conservative." He said he takes stands on issues and stands by them, and voters understand that.

After his next four years is over, Anglin will have served on the county council for 30 years. "This is my last term," he said today.

In his last four years, Anglin said, he wants to see the Justice Building expansion project finished and an agriculture building at the fairgrounds. The fairgrounds agriculture building will be used for the Extension Office, Anglin said.

Teghtmeyer and Newton could not be reached for comment this morning.