Lentz
The Bartholomew County Republican Party has filed a notice that it will hold a caucus at 5:30 p.m. on Aug. 29 to select a candidate for Columbus City Council District 6. The meeting will be held at the party’s headquarters at 718 Pearl Street.
The party filed the notice on Friday, the same day that the Bartholomew County Election Board granted the Bartholomew County Democratic Party’s challenge to the candidacy of Joseph Jay Foyst for District 6.
Foyst told The Republic that he was likely to throw his hat in the ring once more, though he had not made an official decision as of Monday afternoon.
“I did it once, why wouldn’t I do it again?” he said.
Foyst, 60, previously a salesman for 25 years and now a dump truck driver, was selected as the Bartholomew County Republican Party’s nominee during a party caucus in July. The caucus was convened after no Republican filed to run for the office in the party’s May primary, leaving a vacancy in the Nov. 7 general election.
Bartholomew County Democratic Party chairman Ross Thomas challenged Foyst’s candidacy, arguing that it was invalid because the Republican party had failed to file its caucus notice with the Bartholomew County Clerk’s office by the required deadline.
However, while the election board upheld the challenge, there is a section of Indiana Code that allows the Republican Party to fill the vacancy within 30 days, said Bartholomew County Clerk Shari Lentz.
Republican Party vice chairman Josh Burnett said that he believes the party would be allowed to put Foyst on the ballot again under this statute.
The Democratic candidate for District 6 is Bryan Muñoz, who ran unopposed for his party’s District 6 nomination in the primary.
