Lentz only candidate to file to replace Phelps as clerk

Bartholomew County Clerk Jay Phelps, right, and Shari Lentz, supervisor of voter registration, take stock of the personal protective equipment on hand at the vote center for early voting in the former Carson's space at FairOaks Mall in Columbus, Ind., Monday, Oct. 5, 2020. Mike Wolanin | The Republic

COLUMBUS, Ind. — While it won’t be official until this weekend, Shari Lentz will likely succeed Jay Phelps as Bartholomew County Clerk, county GOP Chairwoman Luann Welmer said.

The Republican Party will hold a caucus of precinct committeemen Saturday to vote on Phelps’ replacement. The event gets underway at 10 a.m. at the Holiday Inn on Jonathan Moore Pike.

But when the deadline for submitting applications arrived Wednesday, the 57-year-old Lentz was the only person who had submitted the required paperwork, Welmer said.

So that makes Saturday’s caucus “just a formality,” Welmer said.

“We still have to count the votes,” she said. “But I’m sure they will vote in favor of our candidate.”