A Johnson County commissioner’s primary challenger is a familiar face seeing as he also ran against the two-term commissioner in 2016.
Daniel J. Chupp filed late last week to be a Republican candidate for the Johnson County commissioner District No. 1 seat, currently held by commissioner Brian Baird. The district represents the southern third of the county.
Baird was among the first candidates to file for reelection last month. Ronald H. West, Johnson County commissioner representing District No. 3 is running unopposed in the primary. The District No. 2 commissioner, Kevin Walls, is not up for reelection this year.
The commissioners are in charge of hiring county employees, setting rules for unincorporated areas of Johnson County and overseeing county offices, including the highway department and sheriff’s office.
Chupp challenged Baird in the 2016 primary. In that election, Baird took 74% of the votes, while Chupp earned 26% of votes. Baird was first elected to the seat in 2012.
The primary ballot is set, and Democrat and Republican voters will have choices to make at the state and federal levels when they head to the polls this spring, while Republicans have decisions to make in three local races.
All registered voters in Johnson County are eligible to cast ballots this year and make decisions about who will lead some of the county’s highest courts, the state and the nation.
Any resident who wants to seek office as an independent candidate has until July 1 to file to be on the ballot in November. Those candidates have different requirements than major party candidates.
Locally, 25 seats are up for grabs, more than half of which are on school boards. County offices that will appear on the ballot this year include: the two commissioners; three superior court judges; treasurer; coroner; surveyor; and three Johnson County Council at-large members. Voters will also select precinct committeemen and state convention delegates.
Other local races had shake-ups earlier this week, as some candidates who had filed withdrew their candidacies on the last day they could do so and not appear on the ballot.
Josh McCarty, who was the Johnson County Council President in 2019, withdrew his candidacy for one of the three at-large seats on the same board.
Newcomer Republicans Ron Deer, Tim Frye, Melinda K. Griesemer, John Mallers and Josh Marshall, as well as Republican incumbent John Myers, are vying for those seats. Amanda Stevenson-Holmes is a Democrat challenger, and will appear on the fall ballot, along with the three Republicans who are selected in the primary to move forward to the general election in November.
And there is no longer a Johnson County Coroner primary race, as Travis L. Kost withdrew his candidacy.
Michael Pruitt is now the only Republican candidate for the job. Pruitt is a Bargersville firefighter and public information officer for Indiana Task Force No. 1. This could change come fall if an independent candidate files paperwork by the summer deadline.
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DEMOCRAT RACES
U.S. President
Joseph R. Biden
Michael R. Bloomberg
Pete Buttigieg
Tulsi Gabbard
Amy Klobuchar
Bernie Sanders
Tom Steyer
Elizabeth Ann Warren
Andrew Yang Democratic
U.S. Representative, 9th Congressional District
D. Liam Dorris
Brandon Hood
James C. O’Gabhann
Mark J. Powell
Andy Ruff
Republican challenger: Trey Hollingsworth
Indiana Senate, District 36
Ashley Eason
Jason E. Fletcher
Republican challenger: Jack E. Sandlin
Indiana House, District 93
Angela Elliott
Andy W. Miller
Abdul-Aziz Yamobi
REPUBLICAN RACES
U.S. President
Donald J. Trump
Bill Weld
Governor
Eric J. Holcomb
Brian D. Roth
Democrat challenger: Woodrow (Woody) Myers
Indiana House, District 58
Bruce Armstrong
Heather R. Bline
Michelle Davis
Jay Hart
J. David Hopper
Democrat challenger: Cindy (Cynthia) Reinert
Indiana House District 93
John Jacob
Dollyne Sherman
Johnson County Council At-Large (3)
Ron Deer
Tim Frye
Melinda K. Griesemer
John Mallers
Joshua L. Marshall
John Myers
Democrat challenger: Amanda Stevenson-Holmes
Johnson County Commissioner District No. 1
Brian Baird
Daniel J. Chupp
CANDIDATES WHO HAVE FILED BUT ARE NOT CONTESTED:
Rodric D. Bray, Republican, State Senator, District 37
Tom Wallace, Democrat, State Senator, District 37
John Young, Republican, State Representative, District 47
Chris May, Republican, State Representative, District 65
Paula Staley, Democrat, State Representative, District 65
Peter D. Nugent, Republican, Judge of the Johnson Superior Court, No. 2
Lance Hamner, Republican, Judge of the Johnson Superior Court, No. 3
Marla Clark, Republican, Judge of the Johnson Superior Court, No. 4
Michele Ann Graves, Republican, Johnson County Treasurer
J. Gregory Cantwell, Republican, Johnson County Surveyor
Ronald (Ron) H. West, Republican, Johnson County Commissioner, District 3
Michael D. Pruitt, Johnson County Coroner
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