Major party candidates have less than two weeks to file to run in this year’s municipal election, and nearly half of all seats are without applicants.
No one has filed for any of the four seats available in Edinburgh. And so far, there are no candidates for five seats in Trafalgar; four seats in Prince’s Lakes; three seats in Bargersville; two seats in both Whiteland and New Whiteland, and one seat in Franklin.
Greenwood is the only city or town where at least one candidate has applied for every available position, and there are three contested Republican races — the Republican race for mayor and two city council seats – district 5 and at-large.
In Franklin, Republicans have contested races for city court judge and the district 1 city council seat.
As of Friday afternoon, the following seats had no candidates:
- Bargersville clerk-treasurer
- Two at-large seats on the Bargersville Town Council
- Edinburgh clerk-treasurer
- Three at-large seats on the Edinburgh Town Council
- New Whiteland Town Council ward 1
- New Whiteland Town Council ward 4
- Prince’s Lakes clerk-treasurer
- Three at-large seats on the Prince’s Lakes Town Council
- Trafalgar clerk-treasurer
- Four at-large seats on the Trafalgar Town Council
- Whiteland Town Council ward 2
- Whiteland Town Council ward 3
- Franklin City Council district 5
On Thursday, Mary Beth Alspach filed as a Republican for New Whiteland clerk-treasurer.
Three candidates filed on Friday. Janet L. Whiteside, a Republican, is running for the district 5 seat on the Greenwood City Council. She will face incumbent J. David Hopper in the primary election. Josh Perrin, a Republican, filed for the ward 3 seat on the New Whiteland Town Council. And Matthew Smith, a Democrat, filed for the district 1 seat on the Greenwood City Council. He is the second Democrat to file this election.
More than 50 seats are on the ballot in cities and towns across Johnson County this year. So far, 38 candidates have filed.
Major party candidates have until noon on Feb. 8 to file.
Once major party filing ends next month, county officials will have until May to prepare for the next election, when voters will choose one candidate from each major party for each slot on the November ballot. Voters will have to choose a Republican or Democrat ballot to vote in the primary.
If the primary races are uncontested for all seats in a city or town, then no primary election will be conducted and the candidates will automatically advance to the fall general election.
Candidates filing as Independents have until July.
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Here is a look at which seats are up for election in 2019. All of them have four-year terms:
Bargersville
Clerk-treasurer
Town council, at-large, 3 seats
Edinburgh
Clerk-treasurer
Town council, at-large, 3 seats
Franklin
Mayor
Clerk-treasurer
City court judge
City council, district 1, district 2, district 3, district 4, district 5, two at-large seats
Greenwood
Mayor
Clerk
City court judge
City council, district 1, district 2, district 3, district 4, district 5, district 6, three at-large seats
New Whiteland
Clerk-treasurer
Town council, ward 1, ward 3, ward 4
Prince’s Lakes
Clerk-treasurer
Town council, at-large, 5 seats
Trafalgar
Clerk-treasurer
Town council, at-large, 5 seats
Whiteland
Clerk-treasurer
Town council, ward 1, ward 2, ward 3; two at-large seats
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Here is a look at the filing window for all open seats on the ballots this election:
Major party candidates can file until noon on Feb. 8
Independent candidates can file until July 1
HOW TO FILE: Candidates are encouraged to fill out the required forms at the county’s voter registration office in the basement of the Johnson County Courthouse. But you can also print them out online and bring them in.
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