HANCOCK COUNTY With the ballot finalized for the 2020 general election, most local elections in Hancock County will be unopposed. The deadline for independent candidates to file passed by on Wednesday, July 15, with no new new candidates, which means county offices will be filled by the Republicans who won in the June primary.

Those candidates include D.J. Davis for Superior Court 1 judge; Dan Marshall for Superior Court 2 judge; John Jessup and Bill Spalding for county commissioner; Kent Fisk, Robin Lowder and Keely Butrum for county council; Jane Klemme for county treasurer; and David Stillinger for county coroner.

Janice Silvey, chair of Hancock Countys Republican Party, said in June she believed the party had a strong field of candidates and was happy with how the election season had turned out.

Without any county-level contested elections, the biggest draw to the polls for most voters will undoubtedly be the presidential election between Republican Donald Trump and his presumptive Democratic opponent, former Vice President Joe Biden. However, there are also a number of other contested elections for state and federal office.

In the state Senate, Republican Mike Crider, R-Greenfield, is running for re-election in District 28. Crider, who was first elected in 2012, previously served as the director of Law Enforcement for the Indiana Department of Natural Resources and is running for his third term.

Criders Democratic opponent is Theresa Bruno, a member of the Warren Park Town Council in eastern Marion County. In a recent interview with the Daily Reporter, Bruno said she is passionate about education as a teacher and about health care as a survivor of a brain aneurysm.

Two of Hancock Countys representatives in the Indiana House of Representatives are running unopposed for reelection: Republicans Bob Cherry (District 53) and Sean Eberhart (District 57).

The race for the District 88 seat, which includes a portion of Hancock County containing Fortville and McCordsville, will be contested. The Republican nominee is Fishers attorney Chris Jeter. The Democratic nominee is Pam Dechert, who lives in the Geist area and works for Blackbaud, a software company that provides services to nonprofits.

Rep. Greg Pence, who represents Indianas 6th Congressional District, which includes Hancock County, is running for a second term. Pence recently told the Daily Reporter his biggest priorities include working to ensure businesses can reopen and the economy can recover from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, along with his work on transportation and infrastructure issues.

Challenging Pence is Democrat Jeannine Lee Lake, who also ran against him in 2018. Lake is the publisher of The Good News, a publication in Muncie highlighting religious news and minority communities. Lake said she would be an advocate for equality for people of color, women, and LGBT people, along with prioritizing education and infrastructure funding. Libertarian Tom Ferkinhoff, who also sought the seat in 2018, will be on the ballot again as well.

At the state level, Gov. Eric Holcomb, whose executive orders have set state policy throughout the COVID-19 crisis, is up for re-election. Holcomb served as lieutenant governor under Mike Pence before his election to his first term in 2016. The Democratic nominee is Woody Myers, who previously served as the health commissioner for both Indiana and New York City before resuming a career in the private sector. Libertarian Donald G. Rainwater II also will be on the ballot.

The state attorney generals race also will be contested. At their recent convention, Republicans chose Todd Rokita over the scandal-plagued incumbent, Curtis Hill. Rokita served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2011 to 2019 and as the Indiana secretary of state from 2002 to 2010. His Democratic opponent is Jonathan Weinzapfel, who previously served two terms as the mayor of Evansville and also was a state representative for five years.

The general election will be held on Nov. 3, 2020.

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With ballot finalized, county elections will be unopposed - Greenfield Daily Reporter