COLUMBUS, Ind. — After a busy month full of filings — and a couple of withdrawals — the window for filing candidate paperwork to run in Columbus’ 2023 primary has closed.
Filings for the primary ended at noon Friday. The last candidates to file included Democrat Bryan Munoz for Columbus City Council District 6, Republican Victoria Griffin for District 2 and Democrat Arthur “Dewayne” Fillmore II for District 5.
Munoz
A primary determines a political party’s nominee for the office, meaning a Republican or Democratic nominee will be chosen to be on the ballot for the fall election. So far, the only contested races for the city election are the Republican nomination for Columbus mayor and the Democratic nomination for City Council District 3.
According to Elections Administrator Taylor Seegraves, the deadline to file a withdrawal or a candidate challenge is Feb. 10 at noon.
Former Bartholomew County Sheriff Matt Myers, who is a Republican, has withdrawn his mayoral candidacy, as has Democrat Sean Webster.
The primary is May 2, and the following candidates are set to be on the ballot:
Mayor of Columbus
- Mary Ferdon (R)
- Milo Smith (R)
Columbus City Clerk
- Luann Welmer (R)
- Quisha Jackson (D)
City Council at-large (three seats available)
- Josh Burnett (R)
- Alex Engelbert (R)
- Christopher Rutan (R)
- Tom Dell (D)
- Grace Kestler (D)
City Council District 1
- Christopher Bartels (R)
- Nick Slabaugh (D)
City Council District 2
- Victoria Griffin (R)
- Elaine Hilber (D)
City Council District 3
- Sue Norman-Chapple (R)
- Tony Hayden (D)
- Michael Kinder (D)
- Jerone Wood (D)
City Council District 4
- Frank Miller (R)
City Council District 5
- Kent Anderson (R)
- Arthur “Dewayne” Fillmore II (D)
City Council District 6
- Bryan Munoz (D)
