Editor’s note: This editorial has been corrected to include details about the Indiana House District 73 race and remove details concerning the race in House District 57, which no longer includes Bartholomew County.
Ballots for the May 3 primary election, and in some cases the November general election, are shaping up after the candidate filing deadline passed last week. Voters will have choices in numerous competitive races at the local, state and federal level in the spring party primaries and in the fall general election.
Democrats and Republicans will have choices to make at the top of the ticket in the May primary, assuming those who filed show they collected the required signatures and otherwise qualify. Republican Sen. Todd Young and 6th District Rep. Greg Pence each will have a primary opponent, and Democrats fielded three candidates in both the US Senate and US House race.
Meanwhile, a donnybrook is shaping up in the nearby 9th congressional district race after incumbent Republican Rep. Trey Hollingsworth announced he would not seek reelection to Congress.
Nine — yes, nine — Republicans have entered that race, including a former congressman and two sitting Indiana state lawmakers. As in the 6th District race, three Democrats are vying for their party’s nomination to succeed Hollingsworth in the 9th.
At the state level, one of the more intriguing races is shaping up in the contest for House District 59, which includes Columbus and much of Bartholomew County. Incumbent Rep. Ryan Lauer, R-Columbus, is being challenged in the GOP primary by outgoing Bartholomew County Prosecutor Bill Nash. Democrat Ross Thomas is unopposed on the Democratic side and will face the winner of what’s sure to be a closely watched Republican primary contest.
In House District 73, which includes Hope and eastern portions of Bartholomew County, a primary race has drawn in three three Republicans seeking to succeed Rep. J. Michael Davisson, who is running for Congress. No Democrats filed, so the winner of the GOP primary will be the presumptive representative.
Locally, three Republican Bartholomew County Council members — Scott Bonnell, Greg Duke and Mark Gorbett — face primary challenges, while Democrats fielded just two candidates in four county council races on the 2022 ballot.
The local auditor, assessor and clerk races will be contested on the November election, as one candidate from each party filed. Meanwhile, two candidates filed on the GOP ticket to succeed Nash as prosecutor, and the winner in the primary will be the presumptive nominee because no Democrat filed.
Meanwhile, barring a post-primary challenger, Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Chief Deputy Maj. Chris Lane appears anointed to succeed outgoing Republican Sheriff Matt Meyers. Lane, who filed on the GOP ticket, was the lone candidate in either party to file for sheriff, typically among the most-contested local races. Meyers, for instance, had to best two GOP primary challengers four years ago when he was reelected.
Whatever your politics, it’s important to stay informed and make your voice heard by voting. Indiana notoriously ranks low among the states in civic participation and voter turnout rates. The only way to change that is for more people to realize that their voices matter and their votes count.
