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.”
Lentz will serve out the rest of Phelps’ term that concludes at the end of next year. Phelps, who succeeded Tami Hines as clerk in 2015, has accepted a new role at the Indiana Secretary of State’s Office working on election modernization.
Phelps has endorsed Lentz as his successor, saying “she understands what it takes to be an effective clerk.”
Besides overseeing the Bartholomew County Voter Registration and Elections Office since Phelps took office, Lentz is also known throughout the sate as the Indiana Voter Registration Association president.
Describing her new responsibilities as a wonderful opportunity, Lentz — the wife of Bartholomew County Council member Bill Lentz — praised Phelps for creating a pleasant and productive workplace environment.
While acknowledging she will be supervising a much larger staff, Lentz says she doesn’t find that intimidating.
“I would not have consider this position at all if I didn’t know that there was already a wonderful staff in place,” Lentz said. “I know them all well, and I know the high quality of work they perform.”
Priorities outlined by Lentz for the new two years include serving the public well, as well as ensuring that local elections continue to be conducted with efficiency and integrity.
