Only 1 Incumbent Fails To Retain Seat; No Dem Races
Only 1 Incumbent Fails To Retain Seat; No Dem Races
Posted
David Slone-dslone@timesuniononline.com
Only 1 Incumbent Fails To Retain Seat; No Dem RacesIncumbents won in all local primary contested races Tuesday night, except in Winona Lake.
All the races were on the Republican ballot. There were no contested Democrat races in Kosciusko County.
In Winona Lake, District 1 Councilwoman and incumbent Theila “Tecy” Banta was defeated by challenger Jim Zachary by a vote of 301 to 111.
In an August 2017 caucus, Banta was elected to the council seat, replacing Peter Christos who resigned a month earlier. She beat out two other challengers, including Zachary.
After the results were in, Zachary said he felt really good.
“Since I don’t start until January, the rest of this year is going to feel like an eternity,” he said. No Democrat or other party member has filed to challenge him in the November general election.
As for what helped him win the election, Zachary said, “Probably just early campaigning. I think I got started earlier. Tecy’s been there, I think she’s done a good job, but I think some people wanted to see someone young, maybe. But, yeah, I got started a lot earlier.”
Uncontested races in Winona Lake’s Republican primary included Kent Adams, clerk-treasurer; Denny Duncan, District 2; and Heather James, District 4. There currently are no challengers running against them in the November general election.
For the Warsaw City Council at-large Republican primary, incumbents Cindy A. Dobbins and Jack Wilhite held off challenger Juergen L. Voss. Dobbins received 1,408 votes; Voss 940; and Wilhite 1,119.
While Dobbins could not be reached for comment Tuesday night, Wilhite said, “I’m happy with the votes that I got. It looks like I’ve got a little bit of work. Maybe I can improve on that by the fall.”
He said he needs to get out and talk to people more before the fall election.
Currently, there are no challengers to the Republican at-large candidates for the November general election.
Warsaw Councilmen Jeff Grose, District 1; Michael Klondaris, District 3; Jerry Frush, District 4; and Diane Quance, District 5, did not face any challengers in the primary Tuesday. However, Grose will face Democrat Sara M. McNeal Strahan-Lenfestey; Klondaris will have to take on Democrat Roxanne Coffelt; and Quance’s Democrat opponent will be Jack Brunetto in the November election. The Democrats also didn’t face any challengers Tuesday.
Frush currently doesn’t have any opposition in the fall election, nor does Josh Finch who won the Republican primary for District 2 without any challengers. If Finch wins the November election, he will be replacing Ron Shoemaker who did not seek re-election to run for mayor. Shoemaker lost the mayor’s race to incumbent Joe Thallemer.
In Syracuse, incumbent Clerk-Treasurer Paula E. Kehr-Wicker defeated her challenger, Virginia A. Cazier by a vote of 115 to 75. Kehr-Wicker will face Democrat Tim Yeager in the November general election.
“I’m just very grateful to all the voters voting me back in and allowing me to be their nominee,” Kehr-Wicker said.
“The campaign was a little challenging, but it was definitely a learning experience,” she said.
Kehr-Wicker said she will continue serving in her position and campaign this fall when it gets closer to the election.
“I don’t want to count my chickens until they hatch,” she said. “I just thank the voters for allowing me to continue on.”
Uncontested races in Syracuse’s Republican primary included town council District 3, Tom Hoover; District 4, Larry Martindale; and Bill Musser, District 5.
