Daily Reporter Staff Reports
GREENFIELD — At least two local races will be contested during the 2020 primary season, according to filings with the Hancock County Election Office after the first three days candidates could declare their intentions.
Bill Spalding and Matthew Holland, both Republicans, have filed to run for Hancock County Commissioner in District 3. Incumbent Republican John Jessup has said he intends to run for re-election in District 1. No one has yet filed to challenge him.
Three at-large seats on the Hancock County Council will also be up for election, and at least two new candidates will be on the ballot. Robin Lowder, Keely Butrum and incumbent Kent Fisk have filed to run as Republicans. The other incumbents, Martha Vail and Debbie Bledsoe, said they will not run for re-election. Republican Will Ronan has also said he intends to run but had not filed by Friday afternoon.
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Lowder is the former two-term county auditor. Butrum left the Greenfield City Council this month to run for the county council.
Hancock County Superior Court 2 judge Dan Marshall has filed for re-election. Marie Castetter, recently appointed to the office, and D.J. Davis have so far filed for Superior Court 1 judge. At least two others, Hancock County Court Commissioner Cody Coombs and Jessica Lacy, also plan to run.
Jane Klemme, a Republican, has filed for Hancock County treasurer. The current treasurer, Janice Silvey, has reached the term limit for the office after two four-year terms.
Republican David Stillinger has filed for re-election as Hancock County coroner.
No Democrats have so far filed to run for local office in Hancock County as of Friday, January 10.
Sen. Mike Crider, a Greenfield Republican who represents Indiana’s State Senate District 28, has filed paperwork to run for a third term. Democrat Theresa Bruno, a town councilor in Warren Park in Marion County, is running against him.
In Indiana’s Sixth Congressional District, the incumbent is Republican Rep. Greg Pence. Jeannine Lee Lake has announced plans to run for the seat a second time as a Democrat, after being defeated by Pence in 2018.
Rep. Bob Cherry, a Republican, has filed to run for re-election to State House District 53, Cherry said. As of Thursday, January 9, the Indiana secretary of state office’s report shows that no one has yet filed for State House District 57, currently held by Republican Rep. Sean Eberhart, who represents a handful of precincts in southern Hancock County.
Leah McGrath, a Republican and the former deputy mayor of Fishers, has filed for State House District 88, the seat held by retiring speaker of the house Brian Bosma. Part of District 88 extends into western Hancock County.
“We have some of the very best people leading and living in House District 88,” McGrath said in a press release. “We owe it to them to keep pushing for a government that works better for the people it serves and for a governance framework that will lead to a more prosperous future.”
To appear on the ballot, candidates for governor of Indiana must collect at least 500 signatures from each of the state’s congressional districts. Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb’s re-election campaign has earned a spot on the ballot, collecting more than 9,000 signatures across the state, he campaign announced this week.
On the Democratic side, State Sen. Eddie Melton has withdrawn from the race, leaving Carmel businessman Josh Owens and Dr. Woody Myers, former state health commissioner, as possible challengers.
