Aspire Johnson County has published a new voting resource.
Aspire asked candidates to answer questions on housing, child care, economic development and taxes. Those running in contested primary races for U.S. Senate, U.S. House, Indiana Governor, State Senate, Johnson County Commissioner, Johnson County Council, and Prince’s Lakes Town Council were invited to participate, the county chamber said in a news release.
As the local economic development organization and chamber of commerce for Johnson County, Aspire advocates for business interests by convening forums with elected officials, advancing business-friendly legislation and educating business leaders on candidate’s positions, chamber officials said. Decisions made by elected officials directly impact business, said Christian Maslowski, Aspire president and CEO.
“The biggest race in Johnson County this primary is clearly for Johnson County Council where four Democrats and six Republicans are vying for their party’s three seats to advance to the general. All Democrat and four Republican candidates chose to participate in Aspire’s interview,” Maslowski said in the news release.
Although the interviews were released Thursday, candidates can still participate and Aspire will publish their responses shortly after they receive them, Maslowski said in an email to chamber members.
“Each race is important, and we applaud each candidate for their willingness to serve our community in elected office,” Maslowski wrote.
As of 3 p.m. Thursday, responses were posted from the following candidates:
- U.S. House: 6th District GOP candidates Bill Frazier, Jeff Raatz, Jefferson Shreve and Mike Speedy
- Indiana Governor: GOP candidates Brad Chambers and Curtis Hill
- Senate District 37: GOP candidates Rodric Bray and Jay Hart
- Johnson County Commissioner District 3: GOP candidates Steve Powell and Ron West
- Johnson County Council At-Large: Democratic candidates Michael Chiappetta, Blythe Potter, Charrie Staumbaugh and Saad Tawfeeq; GOP candidates Ron Bates, James Copp, Ron Deer and Michele Ann Graves
- Prince’s Lakes Town Council At-Large: GOP candidate Catherine Gleason
Aspire has also asked its nearly 800 member organizations to share it with their 34,000 employees, and invites the general business community to also review the candidate responses.
The interviews can be found at AspireJohnsonCounty.com/election2024.
