Menu
Numbers don't lie in Republican primary
Three-way races are supposed to help incumbent political candidates. Low voter turnout is considered favorable for incumbents. Bright, sun-shiny days are supposed to assist most incumbent efforts.
Yet that formula didn't come close to working out that way Tuesday in Putnam County as a pair of challengers posted major victories over incumbents in the two major contested races on the Republican primary ballot.
Less than 22 percent -- or 5,209 of the 23,829 registered Putnam voters -- went to the polls Tuesday but those whocame out spoke volumes and who loudly favored change.
Scott Stockton, the lone outsider seeking the top spot in the Putnam County Sheriff's Department, captured 22 of 31 Putnam precincts (with one tie) in getting 2,187 votes and 45.87 percent of those voting in a three-man race.
Sgt. Craig Sibbitt was second, winning eight precincts and receiving support from 1,683 voters (35.3 percent), while incumbent Sheriff Steve Fenwick, seeking re-election to second full term, polled only 898 votes for 18.8 percent.
Support within the City of Greencastle greatly favored Stockton, who captured every precinct within the city with the exception of Fourth West, where he tied with Fenwick at 31 votes apiece.
Sibbitt, meanwhile, claimed all three Cloverdale precincts and all three Floyd Township precincts, as well as Clinton and Washington North.
"I didn't know what time to come in (to the courthouse)," Stockton said after all the votes had been tallied. "My wife and I had been at dinner, and when I came in here, Max Watts met me on the stairs and said, 'You're way ahead.'"
The new Republican sheriff nominee called the feeling "ecstatic," adding that "tonight is just overwhelming."
"This has been the best experience," he mused, "meeting the people, traveling the gravel roads in my pickup truck, talking with everyone and drinking iced tea with them on their front porch."
A scenario similar to the sheriff's race unfolded in the three-man Republican District 2 commissioner contest. Political newcomer Rick Woodall captured 2,021 votes, or 44.25 percent of the vote, in ousting incumbent Max Watts, who garnered support from 1,392 county residents who asked for Republican ballots Tuesday.
While Watts, who was selected by the GOP late last year to finish out the uncompleted term of the late Nancy Fogle, drew 30.5 percent of the vote, John K. Huber grabbed 1,154 votes (or 25.3 percent).
Woodall captured 20 of the 31 Putnam precincts, while Watts was the top vote-getter in six and Huber led the way in four precincts, all in the southern part of the county (Cloverdale 1, 2 and 3 and Jefferson).
As in the sheriff's outcome, it seemed to speak loudly to local voters' call for change.
"You're absolutely right," Woodall agreed. "I'm pretty stinkin' humbled by the whole thing, I'll tell you.
"But this is just the battle," he reasoned, "the war is in November."
By November, Putnam County Democrats might have an appointed challenger for the sheriff and commissioner spots. And you can't rule out an independent running as well.
Running unopposed Tuesday on the GOP ballot were:
-- Denny Bridges for re-election as Superior Court judge, topping the ballot with 3,929 votes.
-- Tim Bookwalter for re-election as prosecutor, 3,754 votes.
-- Heather Gilbert, first-time candidate for county clerk, 3,769 votes.
-- Tracy Bridges, first-time county recorder hopeful, 3,756 votes (173 fewer than judge husband Denny).
--David Penturf for re-election as county surveyor, 3,811 votes.
-- Nancy Dennis for re-election as county assessor, 3,676 votes.
-- David Fuhrman for re-election to County Council, District 1, 804 votes.
-- Jill Bridgewater, first-time candidate for County Council, District 2, 1,221 votes.
-- Darrel Thomas for re-election to County Council, District 3, 1,039 votes.
-- H. Keith Berry for re-election to County Council, District 4, 808 votes.
The best voter turnout among the 31 Putnam precincts was the 32.94 percent posted by Madison Township (Stockton's home precinct, by the way). Foxridge, just south of Greencastle, was next with a 32.36 percent showing.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, the poorest turnouts were produced by two precincts polling less than 13 percent -- 12.42 percent by Franklin South and 12.47 by First South.
Three others had less than 15 percent turnout for the primary vote -- Jackson, 14.39 percent; Cloverdale 2, 14.78 percent, and Floyd East, 14.79 percent.