A Look At The General Election Ballot
KOSCIUSKO COUNTY — Who will be on your ballot for the Nov. 6 general election? Depending on what township you reside in, even what precinct, you will have different candidates on your ballot.
Every voter in the county will be casting votes for: U.S. Senator, Indiana Secretary of State, Indiana Auditor of State and Indiana Treasurer of State, along with seven county offices. Those offices include Judge of Kosciusko Circuit Court 54th Judicial Circuit, Prosecuting Attorney 54th Judicial Circuit, county auditor, county recorder, county sheriff, county assessor and county commissioner – southern district.
But the similarities in ballots stop there. Depending on what township you reside in, even what precinct, you will have different candidates for U.S. Representative and Indiana State Representative, county council seats District 1, 2, 3 and 4 and school board races.
The county is served by two U.S. Congressional Districts.
Precincts in Clay, Etna, Franklin, Harrison, Jefferson, Lake, Scott, Prairie, Turkey Creek, Seward and Van Buren townships and Plain Township Precinct 6 are served by the 2nd District.
Jackson, Monroe, Tippecanoe, Washington, Wayne, City of Warsaw, and Plain Township, except Plain 6 are served by the 3rd District.
Indiana Rep. 18th District includes all precincts in Clay, Lake, Washington, Franklin, Monroe, Jackson and Seward townships, along with Plain Precinct 4, Wayne Precincts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 10 and 11 and City of Warsaw Ward 1 – precincts 1 and 4 and Ward 2 – precinct 4.
Indiana State Rep. 22nd District includes all precincts in Etna, Harrison, Jefferson, Prairie, Scott, Turkey Creek, Tippecanoe and Van Buren townships along with Plain Township Precincts, 1,2, 3, 5, 6 and 7; Wayne Township Precincts 6, 7, 8 and 9 and the City of Warsaw Ward 1 — precinct 2; Ward 2 — precinct 3; Wards 3, 4 and 5.
Only residents in respective county council districts will be able to vote for the person seeking a seat on the council for the district seats.
If you live in Turkey Creek, Tippecanoe, far eastern portion of Plain and the northern two-thirds of Washington Township, you will vote for the District 1 council seat. Those residing in Van Buren, Jefferson, Scott, Etna, Prairie, western portion of Plain and Harrison townships will vote for the District 2 seat.
Residents in Wayne, southern one-third of Washington, Franklin, Seward, Clay, Monroe, Jackson and Lake townships will vote for the District 3 seat.
Races On The Ballot
There are a number of races to be found on this year’s general election ballot. Federal, state and county races include:
U.S. Senator — Mike Braun, Republican; Joe Donnelly, Democrat; and Lucy M. Brenton, Libertarian
Secretary of State — Connie Lawson, Republican; Jim Harper, Democrat; Mark W. Rutherford, Libertarian
Auditor of State — Tera Klutz, Republican; Joselyn Whitticker, Democrat; John Schick, Libertarian
Treasurer of State — Kelly Mitchell, Republican; John C. Aguilera, Democrat
U.S. Rep. District 2 — Jackie Walorski, Republican and Mel Hall, Democrat
U.S. Rep. District 3 — Jim Banks, Republican and Courtney Tritch, Democrat
State Rep. District 18 — David Wolkins, Republican and Dee M. Moore, Democrat
County Commissioner — Southern District — Robert M. (Bob) Conley, Republican and J. Todd Weingart, Democrat
County Council – District 3 — Ernest B. Wiggins, Republican; and Gary L. Schue, Democrat
County Council – District 4 — Jon L. Garber, Republican and David Morgan, Democrat
Township trustee races will be:
Tippecanoe Township Trustee — Chris Francis, Republican and Rebecca Burton, Democrat
Turkey Creek Township Trustee — Julie Close, Republican and Martha Stoelting, Democrat
Wayne Township Trustee — Jeanie Stackhouse, Republican and Shari L. Benyousky, Democrat
Township advisory board races, where only the top three vote recipients will be elected, include:
Clay Township Advisory Board — Donald L. Morris, Dan Ransbottom and Daniel Willis, Republicans and Adam Hyde, Democrat
Etna Township Advisory Board — Joe R. Mooney, Steven L. Sechrist and Tony Tribalski, Republicans and Patrick Morr, Democrat
Jackson Township Advisory Board — Marcia J. Dierks, Ray P. Fsher and Jill L. Slater, Republicans and Stanley Moore, Democrat
Plain Township Advisory Board — Robert W. Bishop, Craig Charlton, Larry Kammerer, Republicans and Gaynor Worden, Democrat
Turkey Creek Township Advisory Board — Dennis R. Darr, John D. Heckaman, William Dixon, Republicans and Victoria Carvey Morton, Jama Owens Brown and Tim Yeager, Democrats
Van Buren Township Advisory Board — Robert Beer, Shane M. Bucher and Stephen Unruh, Republicans and Vickie Marquart, Democrat
Wayne Township Advisory Board — Gordan Nash, Joshua Spangle and Bruce A. Woodward, Republicans and Laura Deal-Decker, James R. (Jim) Falkner and Lori Roe, Democrats
No Challengers
Offices and candidates who will be on the ballot unopposed include:
State Rep. District 22 — Curt Nisly
Judge, Kosciusko Circuit Court – 54th Judicial Circuit — Michael W. Reed, Republican
Prosecuting Attorney 54th Judicial Circuit — Daniel H. Hampton, Republican
County Auditor — Michelle L. Puckett, Republican
County Recorder — Joetta Mitchell, Republican
County Sheriff — Kyle Dukes, Republican
County Assessor — Susan D. Engelberth, Republican
County Council – District 1 — Doug Heinisch, Republican
County Council – District 2 — Michael Long, Republican
Trustees — Helen Brown, Clay Township; Gary Sponseller, Etna Township; Trillia Gearhart, Franklin Township; Tracy Moyer, Harrison Township; Gwendolyn Ostrom, Jackson Township; Beth Krull, Jefferson Township; Molly Bradford, Lake Township; Stephanie Cloud, Monroe Township; Tyler Huffer, Plain Townshihp; Julia A. Gon, Prairie Township; Fred A. Slabaugh, Scott Township; Aime A. Hogman, Seeward Townsip; Rebecca Alles, Van Buren Township; and Dean Rhoades, Washington Township
Township Advisory Boards — James L. Eades, Buni Leininger, Joseph Sechrist for Franklin Township; John E. Hart, Steve Sponseller and Gerald Weirick, in Harrison Township; Dee Ann Beer, Jane Hunsberger and Robert Riley for Jefferson Township; Kathleen Lokotar, Wayne Spratt and Paul Sibray for Lake Township; Donald L. Ellison, Sonya L. Hathaway and Patrick Landrigan for Monroe Township; Lila Christner Thompson, Gordon R. Drake and Connie S. Himes for Prairie Township; Tom Besson, John R. Mast and Paul Parks for Scott Township; Kevin N. Hohman, Bruce Lankenau and Allison McSherry, Seward Township; Edwin (Ed) Clayton, James M. (Jim) Rhodes and James M. (Jim) Smith, for Tippecanoe Township; Bryan Bidwell, James A. Craig and Roger S. Thomas for Washington Township.
Town Elections
Ballots in the town limits of Milford will have these names listed for town elections:
Clerk-Treasurer — Patricia Gall
Town council — Robert . Cockburn, Joellen Free and Douglas Ruch
Ballots in the town limits of Syracuse will have these names listed for town elections:
Town Council District 1 — Larry Siegel
Town Council District 2 — Paul Stoelting
Ballots in the town limits of Winona Lake will have these names listed for town elections:
Town Council District 3 — Jim Lancaster
Town Council District 4 — Rick Swaim
School Board Races
Those residing in the Tippecanoe Valley School Corporation will be voting on one candidate per district. The candidates are:
District 3 — Lacey Wise
District 4 — Thomas J. (Tom) Bauters and Kristopher A. Fear
District 5 — Craig A. Drurkes and Todd L. Hoffman.
Those residing in the Triton School Corporation will be voting on one candidate from each of the districts. These candidates are:
District 1 – Tippecanoe Township — Teresa Barnhart
District 2 — Etna Township — Andrew L. Cook and Steven D. Stichter
District 4 – Town of Bourbon — Kenneth Miller
Those residing in the Wa-Nee Community Schools district will be voting for one candidate in each district. These candidates are:
Harrison Township, Elkhart County — Terry L. Graber
Locke Township, Elkhart County — Curt Flickinger
Union Township, Elkhart County — Louis Bonacorsi
Those residing in the Warsaw Community School Corporation will be voting for one candidats in the district in which the voter resides. Those candidates are:
District 1 — Michael (Mike) Coon, Wendy Fairchild or Keith E. Manuel
District 2 — Heather Reichenbach
District 5 — Jeremy Mullins
District 7 — Bradly Johnson
Those residing in the Wawasee Community School Corporation will be voting for one candidate from each district. Those candidates are:
District 1 — Robert (Rob) Fisher
District 2 — Steve Baut, William D. (Bill) Cripe or Mary Lou Dixon
District 3 — Rebecca L. (Becky) Linnemeier
Those residing in the Whitko Community School Corporation will be voting for one candidate from each district. Those candidates are:
District 4 — Bill Patrick or Richard Jason Thomas
District 5 — Annette J. Arnold, Dale Anthony Starkey, Jorell T. Tucker or Scott Werstler.
Each of the ballots will also have a statewide public question and an opportunity to vote whether to retain Indiana Supreme Court Justice Geoffrey G. Slaughter and Indiana Court of Appeals District 2 Judge Robert R. (Bob) Altice Jr.
The statewide public question involves amending Article 10, Section 5 of the state’s constitution to require the General Assembly to Adopt balanced budgets for state government that do not exceed estimated revenues unless a supermajority of two-thirds or the members of the House of Representatives and two-thirds of the members of the Senate vote to suspend the requirement.
Those residing in the Wa-Nee School Corporation will have a public question regarding a referendum: for eight calendar years following the referendum, shall the Wa-Nee Community School Corp., impose a property tax rate that does not exceed $0.0959 on each $100 of assessed valuation and that is in addition to all other property taxes imposed by the school corporation for the purpose of funding improvements for the safety, security and well-being of the Wa-Nee students.