Jeannine Gray with Hancock County Sheriff Brad Burkhart during Tuesday night’s election results. Gray was running in the Hancock County Commissioner race. Tuesday, May 7, 2024.
Tom Russo | Daily Reporter
HANCOCK COUNTY — The primary election to be a Hancock County Commissioner representing District 1 pitted Republicans Greg Brewer against Jeannine Gray.
Voters ended up selecting Gray by nearly 800 votes. Gray captured 5,053 votes with Brewer getting 4,260.
Gray showed up at the Hancock County Annex building with her son and daughter in-law just as the final votes were tabulated and was all smiles when she said it had been a good night to see the campaign pay off.
“I think that the years I’ve served on the county council has helped me gain the trust of most folks, and I look forward to serving in this next capacity,” Gray said.
Gray said she has a deep love for Hancock County and the people in it and wants to do all she can to keep the county safe and a productive place to live.
“At the end of the day, if I am nothing more, I am an excellent listener,” Gray said. “I have the ability to take those comments from the community and put them to good use because if you can’t listen to your constituents you might as well not be holding an office.”
Brewer, who is a current representative for the McCordsville Town Council in District 2, is also the council’s president but was seeking to move up to take on a larger role in the county. Gray is already doing county work as the president of the Hancock County Council, but noted her county experience, like working on the Hancock County Plan Commission, made moving to a commissioner’s seat seem like a logical progression.
“I think being a commissioner is something I am ready to do,” Gray said.
Brewer said he has a lot of respect for Gray and wasn’t actually running against her, but was running to represent the Republican party as best he could.
“It was a great race by both of us, and I’m impressed with how we both ran the race and we were both trying to do our best,” Brewer said. “I said all along, no matter how it came out, the county was going to get a good person to represent them.”
One thing he did note was the total number of votes for the commissioner’s position was 9,313 but there were some 11,463 votes for the Hancock County Council spots indicating some kind of disconnect with the voters.
“I find that really mind boggling,” Brewer said. “We’ve got to correct that in the future.”
Brewer noted he ran a self-funded campaign and is proud of that and is glad he’s still going to be on the McCordsville Council for at least another year.
“At the end of the day, I’m a football coach and I can tell you one thing — I’ve always learned more losing than I have winning,” Brewer said. “I think I need to take some time and develop better connections outside of my town if running for a county seat is something I want to do in the future.”
Heading into the primary, Brewer said he was running for commissioner to give a voice at the county level for the second largest population in the county, which is Vernon/Buck Creek Township residents. Brewer noted a lot of the development and decisions have been made at the county level that have impacted Western Hancock resident.s and he felt he could provide a voice and provide input of their thoughts and concerns.
As a member of the McCordsville Town Council, Brewer said he has listened to his constituents and have never voted for tax abatements or speculative warehouses.
One of his campaign promises stated he planned to focus on better pay, retention and recruitment for the Sheriff’s Department as well as work with the prosecutor’s, probation and sheriff’s offices to develop more mental health and substance abuse rehabilitation programs to cut down on recurring offenders and jail recidivism rate.
“But now I’m going to be supporting Gray,” Brewer said.
Gray ran on her many years of leadership experience in the county, saying she had the opportunity to oversee the stable financial growth of the county, which is crucial.
Gray said being a good steward of the taxpayer’s money is foremost in my mind when making decisions. That coupled with the fact Hancock County is now the fastest-growing county in the state (according to the I.U. Kelley School of Business), she said those critical decisions are even more important.
There was also a commissioner’s position open in District 3, but incumbent and board president Bill Spalding ran unopposed. Gary McDaniel’s seat, the third commissioners, isn’t open until 2026.
Gray notes she’s looking forward to working with both Spalding and McDaniel, who she called both great men in the community.
The general election is slated for Tuesday, Nov. 5 when elected positions become official after the election is final.
