HANCOCK COUNTY — Hancock County Commissioner John Jessup managed to hold on to his seat by a slim margin in Tuesday’s primary election.
Jessup received 4,169 votes in the GOP race for District 1 commissioner. His challenger, Hancock County Council member Jeannine Gray, finished with 4,025 votes.
Both commissioner races were the closest in the county on Election Day. In District 3, the Republican winner was Bill Spalding, who received 4,039 votes. That’s a margin of only 86 votes over his opponent, Matt Holland, who received 3,953. There was no incumbent in the District 3 race; three-term Commissioner Brad Armstrong decided not to seek re-election.
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No Democratic candidates for commissioner ran in the primary. While the local party still has the chance to appoint candidates for the general election, Jessup and Spalding will likely be heavy favorites to win.
When results came in around 10 p.m. Tuesday night, Jessup said he was excited to have the opportunity to serve another four years.
“I’m thinking about 4,100 people that did vote for me, and about 4,000 people who didn’t who I’m going to have to work hard for,” he said.
Gray, who is believed to be one of the first women to run for commissioner, said she was pleased to come so close to defeating an incumbent.
“I’m really humbled,” she said. “For a woman to go out and run against an incumbent and only lose by 144 votes, that’s pretty impressive.”
Gray said she looks forward to continuing her work on the county council and may consider running for commissioner again in the future.
The race between Jessup and Gray attracted significant attention among donors and close observers of county politics. Gray, well-regarded in GOP circles, said she got into the race after a number of people campaigned for her to run. The incumbent, who acknowledged that the debate over the county jail had been difficult, was expected to face a tough battle.
“I’ve spearheaded this jail project, which at times has been contentious,” Jessup said in February. There’s been times when I haven’t made friends with some people, but I’ve found that sometimes you have to be a little bit more coarse to get a job done.”
The other race, between two veteran law enforcement officers, did not carry that kind of freight.
Spalding said he was gratified by the results of his race.
“I don’t think I’ve seen a race that close in I don’t know how long,” he said.
Spalding said he believed sending mailers as a form of direct outreach to early voters is likely what put him over the top.
“We told them why they should consider voting for Bill Spalding, and it looks like they did,” he said.
Holland said he will get back to work on the Sugar Creek Township Board, of which he is a member, although this may be his last run for other elected office.
“I just want to thank all of the voters that did vote for me,” he said.
Spalding said Wednesday that he planned to use the time before the November election working to become more educated about the board of commissioners and, if possible, attending local events to meet voters.
He said he anticipated that the biggest issue facing the county when he takes office at the beginning of 2021 will be the economic fallout of COVID-19.
“I think that will be the priority going into next year,” he said.
The county could address that by encouraging the growth of small and large businesses in order to expand its tax base, Spalding said. The county’s financial advisers have projected that COVID-19 and the restrictions instituted in response will lead to decreases in most sources of tax revenue for Hancock County in 2021, with some of the impact continuing beyond then..
Armstrong, the current commissioner in District 3, chose not to run for another term. Armstrong supported Jessup for re-election but chose not to endorse either candidate for his own seat.
“I think they were both good candidates, and I look forward to working with Bill in the transition,” he said. “He’ll know everything I know.”
Armstrong said creating a budget that can serve the county well despite decreases in tax revenue should be the top priority for the commissioners next year, along with continuing work on the new county jail and following through on a plan to renovate and re-purpose other county buildings.
Armstrong also offered some advice for the commissioners who will continue to serve after his term is up.
“Always keep your constituents in mind and do what’s best for them,” he said.