GREENFIELD — For the majority of Hancock County candidates in this election, victory was a foregone conclusion. With no Democrats or independents running in the fall, the county offices on the ballot were decided in the Republican primary.
The primary saw much lower turnout than the election that was decided Tuesday, with a total of 12,247 votes. Of those, 8,859 were Republican ballots, meaning many fewer voters weighed in to select the local officeholders who will lead their communities most directly.
In perhaps the most contentious race of the primary, attorney D.J. Davis defeated Marie Castetter and two other rivals to win nomination for the judge’s seat in Hancock County Superior Court 1.
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Davis has also had the most difficult task in preparing to take office, splitting from his longtime law practice and referring his clients to other attorneys.
“Closing down a business after 23 years has been a lot of work,” he said.
Come Jan. 1, Davis will officially don the judge’s robe. He will succeed Castetter, who was appointed to fill the final year of Judge Terry Snow’s term after Snow retired in December 2019.
Another judge, Dan Marshall of Superior Court 2, won re-election to his fourth term without facing a challenge in the primary or the general election.
Superior Court judges serve six-year terms.
On the county Board of Commissioners, John Jessup successfully defended his District 1 seat in the primary from a challenge from county council member Jeannine Gray. The board will have a new face, however: Bill Spalding won the primary for the District 3 seat currently occupied by retiring Commissioner Brad Armstrong.
Spalding has been spending his time since the June primary preparing to take office by staying on top of in-progress county projects, especially the construction of the new Hancock County Jail.
“Commissioner Jessup has taken me out to the jail and introduced me to the engineering and management teams,” Spalding said.
He has also met with members of the county council and the Hancock Economic Development Council, and will be attending a workshop on governance for newly elected and incumbent commissioners presented by the Indiana Association of County Commissioners.
Five candidates ran for three seats in the primary for Hancock County Council. Incumbent Kent Fisk, the only incumbent who ran, will remain on the council and be joined by newcomers Robin Lowder and Keely Butrum.
County coroner David Stillinger will serve another term; he defeated challenger Joe Fortner in the primary. Jane Klemme was the only candidate for county treasurer and will take over for current Treasurer Janice Silvey.
Two candidates for state representative whose districts include parts of Hancock County were also unopposed in the general election. Rep. Bob Cherry, R-Greenfield, will remain in office, while Sean Eberhart won the Republican primary to represent District 57, which includes part of southern Hancock County.
Unopposed school
board races
In nonpartisan school board elections, three of Hancock County’s four school corporations — Greenfield-Central, Eastern Hancock, and Southern Southern — each attracted three candidates for their three open seats. The winners will serve a four-year term. (Mt. Vernon had a five-way race for three seats on its school board; see separate story.)
Greenfield-Central: Daniel Brown, Hillary Close and Kathleen Dowling were re-elected
Eastern Hancock: Scott Johnson, James Jackson and Steve Brock were elected. Johnson and Jackson were incumbents; Brock is a newcomer to office.
Southern Hancock: Matt Ackerman, Laura Haeberle and Daniel Walker were elected. All were incumbents, although Haeberle was appearing on a ballot for the first time after being appointed by the board to fill a vacancy.