By Mark Webber | The Republic
mwebber@therepublic.com
In a repeat of what took place two years ago with the district seats, the Republicans who won Tuesday’s primary for Bartholomew County Council at-large are all incumbents.
That includes Evelyn S. Pence, who has been on the Bartholomew County Council for what may be an unprecedented 40 years. After receiving about 20% of the votes Tuesday, the Cummins Inc. retiree and current property manager is now well on the road to winning an 11th consecutive term.
Pence received the most votes (5,237) of any nominee in the seven-person race.
With 17% of the vote, incumbent Laura DeDomenic came in fourth place, which takes her out of the running for an at-large seat. However, the commercial real estate owner and manager still has two more years on the council after winning the District 2 council seat in 2018. DeDomenic wanted an at-large seat that would allow her the option to move out of her district, but remain on the council.
Bill Lentz, who is seeking his fourth term on the council had the second-most votes with 5,196 (20%). Before winning his first four-year term in 2008, the co-manager of Lentz Farms served 16 years on the Flat Rock-Hawcreek School board of trustees.
It appears that Matt Miller, who currently serves as council president, is likely to get a second consecutive term after receiving 19% (5,010) of the votes. The president and owner of Raft To Rafters Pool and Spa says his priorities remain the same as they were four years ago: the lowest possible tax rates, improving the quality of county services and creating an environment favorable for private sector growth.
Among the challengers, Andrew Brunni had the largest support with about 9% of the vote. The owner of Brunni Marketing Solutions, who holds a master’s degree in public administration from Indiana Wesleyan University, has campaigned to reduce the tax burden on county residents.
Lower taxes were also on the mind of challenger Derick Olson, a indirect materials analyst for Cummins Inc., His priorities include eliminating the local income tax passed by the council in 2017, as well as making Bartholomew County tax-friendly to businesses. Olson received roughly 6% of the votes Tuesday.
While Brunni and Olson focused strongly on lower taxes, all three winning incumbents have also been fiscally conservative while on the council. Miller, Lentz and Pence did not support the 40% hike in the county’s local income tax passed in 2017 that went into effect in 2018.
The third challenger, William “Bill” Read, 72, received about 7% of the votes. Read, who works as a utility and railroad engineer with the Indiana Dept. of Transportation, listed his priorities as maintaining infrastructure with existing funds, reducing drug issues and supporting law enforcement.
There are no Democrats who ran in the primary for the county council. However, Bartholomew County Democratic Central Committee chairman Steve Schoettmer can select candidates to put their names on November’s ballot. Normally, that has to be done by the first week of July. However, the Indiana Secretary of State is delaying several election deadlines this year for nearly a month, due to the COVID-19 crisis.
How you voted
Bartholomew County Council: At-large
(vote for three)
Andrew Brunni (R); 2,530
Laura DeDomenic (R); 4,154
Bill Lentz (R); 5,196
Matt Miller (R); 5,010
Derick Olson (R); 1,544
Evelyn S. Pence (R); 5,237
Bill Read (R); 1,784
