HANCOCK COUNTY — Incumbent Republican county council member Mary Noe defeated Democratic challenger Frank Rock in Tuesday’s general election.
Noe received an unofficial total of 4,134 votes while Rock received 2,233.
The only contested race for a county government position was over the council’s district 2, which includes Buck Creek Township in the western part of the county, as well as McCordsville and part of Center Township.
Noe is completing a term on the council after also serving on it in the late 1980s and early 1990s. She said she’s grateful to the voters for their confidence to give her an opportunity for another four years to represent them. Noe added she feels her openness to discuss issues with people who approach her via email, in person and on the phone encouraged voters to cast ballots for her.
Mary Noe
“I always want to be accessible and truly listen to what their views are and concerns are,” Noe said.
Buck Creek Township’s growth — particularly its spike of industrial buildings over the past several years — likely played a factor too, she continued.
“I’ve tried to listen to each project on its own merit and vote how I felt it would impact the overall community in that township, and if you look at my voting record, I vote yes sometimes and I vote no sometimes, so I do try to weigh it all out,” she said.
That’s going to be on her mind as she heads into her upcoming term, she continued, particularly when it comes to roadwork, which she noted the council doesn’t specifically direct projects toward, but can influence how funds are spent on them.
Noe and Rock, a retired U.S. Department of Defense employee, ran unopposed in the primary.
The contest was part of an election that drew at least 23,934 of Hancock County’s approximately 60,000 registered voters, far surpassing the approximately 8,700 who voted in the primary but not quite reaching the over 30,000 who participated in the 2018 general election.
Lisa Lofgreen, Hancock County clerk, said the turnout left her excited.
“Especially since we don’t have a lot of contested races, so to have these numbers with fewer contested races, I think that shows that people are really interested in getting the vote out,” she said.
