Jeannine Gray waits at the Hancock County Annex to hear the final totals for Tuesday’s election. Gray is running for re-election for County Council 1 seat. Tuesday, May 3, 2022.
HANCOCK COUNTY — Two seats were open and up for grabs on the Republican side of the Hancock County Council May 3 primary. One incumbent won while the other longtime county servant did not.
The race for Hancock County District 1 pitted incumbent Jeannine Gray against challenger Scott Ruble while Council District 4 put incumbent Bill Bolander against challenger Scott Wooldridge.
The seven-member Council is the county government’s fiscal body, and candidates can only appear on the ballots in the districts they represent.
The seat for Council District 4 in the southern and southwestern parts of the county had the two candidates who ran on different views about development in the county. Bolander, who has represented the district for 32 years, has supported growth and industrial development, a different view than his opponent Wooldridge who ended up unseating Bolander in a tight race.
Wooldridge won by a slim margin of 57 votes, getting 52% of the ballots casts with 755 votes while Bolander earned 48% with 698 votes.
“I got elected for the people’s agenda and not my own, so I’m going to do what they want,” Wooldridge said. “I’m just glad for the people, too, and I would have felt badly had I lost because I know people wanted change, and that’s how an incumbent loses — people want change.”
When reminded he beat a well liked man who has served the county for 32, Wooldridge humbly said, “Things like that don’t happen very often.”
Bolander was surprised he wasn’t able to pull out another victory after serving so long but said things don’t always work out the way a person wants them to and he’s OK with that.
“Guess I’ll get the chance to spend a few more months in Florida next winter,” Bolander said. “I’m really kind of surprised, but I think what happens sometimes is the people who are against things get out and vote while the people who are for things just stay at home thinking everything will be OK”
Wooldridge went into the race saying the county has been overly generous with the tax breaks for developers, particularly in regard to the term lengths for those incentives. He also had concerns with Buck Creek Township firefighters and the Sheriff’s department having to handle increased calls to the industrial developments.
Still, Wooldridge had nothing but good things to say about Bolander, who he called a good man who has done a good job leading the county.
Gray, the Council District 1 incumbent, entered the race saying she was proud of having been part of improving the pension, raises and additional positions for the sheriff’s department during her time in office.
Gray’s challenger, Ruble, owns a commercial landscape company with his wife and is a longtime county resident who was a newcomer to politics. Gray was able to hang on to her seat, getting 60% of the vote at 1,253 while Ruble in his first ever election received 40% or 863 votes.
“I would like to think it was the good work that I’ve done heading into the election that helped me win,” Gray said. “The voters spoke, and in moving forward I think we’ll have a different flair with our county government.”
For Ruble, who sat with his family and waited for results, he remained positive and upbeat, noting he had never done anything like run for a political office before and said he thinks the people who did vote for him did so because he is a “no nonsense” kind of person.
“I’m pretty simple,” Ruble said. “I’m not a politician. I’m a business man, and I think that is what this county needs is more business-minded people to spend the county’s money.”
Ruble noted he and his family enjoyed getting a taste of politics and said he’ll be back with the idea of running again in the not-too-distant future.
Council District 2 candidate Mary Noe is wrapping up a term on the county council representing District 2 in the western and northwestern parts of the county. She also served on the council from 1988 through 1994 before serving as Vernon Township assessor and Hancock County assessor. Noe was running unopposed in the primary but will face Democrat Frank Rock Jr. in the general election later this year. Rock also ran unopposed in the primary.
