By Leah Sander
InkFreeNews

WARSAW — The GOP retained all three of the Kosciusko County Council’s at-large seats in Tuesday night’s election.

Newcomer Kathy Groninger joined incumbents Sue Ann Mitchell and Joni Truex in securing the top three positions in a six-way race Tuesday night, Nov. 3, over Democrats Noemi Ponce, Lori Roe and Itanya Coon-Kauffman.

Groninger was the top vote-getter with 26.72%, followed by Mitchell with 24.91%, Truex with 24.41%, Ponce with 8.52%, Coon-Kauffman with 8.03% and Roe with 7.40%.

“I feel honored and blessed and I’m really looking forward to getting started and I’m really looking forward to working with other members of the council,” Groninger said of her first attempt at public office. “They’ve all done such a great job and I’m honored and privileged to get to be part of it.”

She said she’d enjoy working with her husband Cary Groninger in local government. Cary, an incumbent who was appointed three years ago, defeated Democrat Travis McConnell, to retain his role as the middle district county commissioner.

She noted, though, that just because they’re married doesn’t mean they will agree on all issues concerning local government.

Groninger joined her Republican colleagues Tuesday night at GOP Headquarters in Warsaw.

“I look forward to just moving forward,” said Mitchell of continuing work for a second term on the council. She said she’s thankful for the voters’ support.

She said she wants to continue working on a strategic plan for the county with the commissioners.

“I’ll try to keep an open mind and try to listen to those people who have opinions about what we’re doing to do what the people really want done,” she said of what she will do in her next term.

Truex said she’s happy to start her second term on the council.

“I feel blessed, very humbled and very excited that I get to continue,” she said.

She said she wanted to focus on keeping the county budget balanced, noting that she wanted to establish a budget committee that checks in with the council monthly.

“I think we need to figure out a way to either reduce spending or increase revenue as those are our only choices and some of it I think will take care of itself, but I think we need to work really hard on that,” she said.

She said she wanted to work hard for all the taxpayers in Kosciusko County and on “keeping it a good and wonderful place.”

Ponce said she hoped her run inspires more young women and Latinos to become involved in politics.

She said she might run again for office, noting she has quite a bit of support.

“I’d like to thank each and every person (who helped me),” she said, mentioning voters and those who helped organize her campaign.

Roe said she learned a lot from running for office.

“It’s an eye-opening experience,” she said, adding that she might consider another run in the future. She commended the high voter turnout for the election and said she hoped people would be just as “enthusiastic” in the mid-term election in two years.

Knowing the conservative bent of the county, Roe said she was “not surprised with the results.” She said she thinks Democratic support might grow in the county though.

She encouraged people to focus on local politics as they have more say on county citizens’ lives than those at the national level.

Coon-Kauffman was unavailable for comment on Tuesday.