Candidates in uncontested races move on

While a number of contested races in the Republican primary brought voters out from across the county, many offices were uncontested on Tuesday.

All candidates who won their primaries will advance to the general election on Nov. 7, where they have the opportunity to be challenged by Democratic or third-party candidates.

In Franklin, incumbent Mayor Steve Barnett ran unopposed as he aims for his second full term as mayor. He won a caucus in 2017 to first take office, then won election in the 2019 municipal elections. Jan Jones was not opposed in her bid to become Franklin clerk-treasurer, replacing Jayne Rhoades who is retiring at the end of her term. Franklin Judge Mark Loyd also ran unopposed in the primary.

The at-large seats for Franklin City Council had competition, but residency-based district incumbents were all uncontested. Incumbents are Josh Prine, District 1; Anne McGuinness, District 2; Jennifer Price, District 3; Ken Austin, District 4; and Irene Nalley, District 5.

Three at-large candidates — Republicans Miriam Rooks, Jeff Simpson and Sherri Sweet — ran without opposition for Edinburgh Town Council.

Greenwood saw the most intense races during this primary election, including for mayor and multiple city council seats. At the same time, Jeannine Myers was uncontested in the Greenwood clerk race. Michael Williams did not have an opponent in the race to represent District 3 on the Greenwood City Council. Ezra Hill was uncontested in the District 2 race for the Greenwood City Council, as was David Lekse in District 6.

In New Whiteland, Angela DeVoss had no opponent for clerk-treasurer, while John Perrin was unopposed in the town council District 3 race.

A handful of Republican candidates for town clerk-treasurers ran also ran unopposed, including Erica Giger in Prince’s Lakes, Donna Moore in Trafalgar and Melissa Fraser in Whiteland. Fraser replaces current Whiteland Clerk-Treasurer Debra Hendrickson, who opted to run for town council instead.

In Whiteland, Hendrickson was unopposed for the District 3 seat, which is currently held by Laura Fleury. Meanwhile, at-large incumbents Richard Hill and Joe Saylor also cruised to the nomination.

A handful of Democrats have already filed for election in Bargersville, Greenwood and Whiteland and none of these candidates were contested in the Democratic primary. Jacquelyn Withem is running for an at-large seat on Whiteland Town Council; Nathan Cardenas is running for the District 4 seat on Greenwood City Council; Manjit Nagra is running for the District 3 seat on Greenwood City Council, and Blythe Potter is running for Bargersville Town Council.

Libertarian James Sceniak, who ran unsuccessfully for U.S. Senate last year, has also filed to run for an at-large seat on Greenwood City Council.

No candidates have filed for the Edinburgh clerk-treasurer race nor the New Whiteland Town Council Wards 1 and 4 seats, which means local political parties will select a General Election candidate through a process known as slating this summer.

So far, there will be races on Nov. 7 for at least five offices, three in Greenwood and one each in Bargersville and New Whiteland.

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Ryan Trares
Ryan Trares is a senior reporter and columnist at the Daily Journal. He has long reported on the opioids epidemic in Johnson County, health care, nonprofits, social services and veteran affairs. When he is not writing about arts, entertainment and lifestyle, he can be found running, exploring Indiana’s craft breweries and enjoying live music. He can be reached at [email protected] or 317-736-2727. Follow him on Twitter: @rtrares