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GOP retains local control
It will be at least two more years before a Democrat holds county office in Putnam County.
With just two county races even contested by Democrats, Republicans won handily Tuesday night, with Rick Woodall capturing 73 percent of the vote for District 2 commissioner and Danny Wallace taking 62 percent in his bid for District 3 county council.
Perhaps even more impressive than the Republican totals are the county-wide voter turnout numbers, with 12,035 voters casting ballots, or 50.7 percent of the county electorate.
That percentage is the best for a midterm election in Putnam County since 1994, when 61.7 percent of voters went to the polls.
“What an awesome turnout,” County Clerk Heather Gilbert said. “I’m very excited the citizens of Putnam County got out and exercised their right to vote.”
For Woodall, who defeated Democrat Steve Cash by a count of 8,629-3,143, the outcome was exciting as he looks toward a second four-year term in office.
“I feel like we made some strides in the last few years,” Woodall said. “I think there’s more we can do. I think there’s a lot we can do in terms of roads.”
Beyond the age-old roads question, though, Woodall hopes that he and fellow commissioners David Berry and Don Walton can be looking forward.
“We’re going to work on technology,” Woodall said. “We are so far behind on that.”
In recent years, the commissioners already took steps to upgrade the telecommunications infrastructure at the courthouse. Next on their agenda is the outdated Putnam County website, as a vendor made a pitch about website upgrades during Monday’s commissioners meeting.
Also on the agenda was the future of the microfilm department in the county. If the microfilm budget goes away, Woodall hopes the money can be applied to technology.
“Maybe we can shift some of the microfilm money to an IT guy to help us,” Woodall said.
Woodall is also considering some steps to improve engagement with constituents such as coffee with a commissioner or even beers with a commissioner.
Cash acknowledged the uphill battle that faces a Democrat in Putnam County.
“It’s hard to win in Putnam County as a ‘D.’ There are too many people that vote by party instead of person anymore,” Cash said. “They don’t get into what policies are.”
While the result was a tough pill to swallow for Cash, he insisted he’ll stay involved in other avenues.
“I’m still president of Farm Bureau. We’ll still have our legislative sessions and do what we can to make it right,” Cash said. “We’re giving Democrats something to pick from and if they choose to come out and support us, eventually we’ll be able to do a little better.
“We’ll survive one way or the other.”
Cash also took a moment to thank his supporters.
“I’d like to thank those who did vote for me,” he said. “I really appreciate the support I did get. I got a lot of support from my church and that meant a lot.”
In the county council District 3 race, Wallace didn’t have the advantage of incumbency, but he still won handily over Democrat Matt Cummings, 1,660-1,010. Wallace will replace veteran County Councilman Darrel Thomas, who is choosing to retire following this term.
Having retired last year as a deputy of the Putnam County Sheriff’s Department, Wallace is happy to be serving the citizens of Putnam County again.
“I’m very honored and humbled the voters of Putnam County voted for me,” Wallace said. “I’ll try to be a voice for the Third District as strongly as possible.”
Wallace knows there will be a learning curve, but has his own priorities going into his new position in January.
“I’m going to try and sit back and learn about the job and how it’s done,” Wallace said. “But I also have my own views and priorities I’d like to see accomplished.”
Wallace had gracious words to say about his competitor in the race.
“I’d like to congratulate Matt Cummings on working very hard for the Democrats,” Wallace said.
Cummings was upbeat Tuesday night in spite of the result.
“People told me Democrats couldn’t win in the county,” Cummings said. “I knew it would be an uphill battle. But we got 40 percent. We got more than 1,000 people to step out of their comfort zone.”
As a first-time candidate, Cummings seems to look at it as more of a building block for himself and the party that last won a county-level seat in 1994.
“We just can’t let these elections go uncontested,” Cummings said. “It may take 10 years, it make take 20 years, but we have to keep running candidates, day after day, year after year, cycle after cycle — and talk about issues that are relevant to voters.”
It is indeed an uphill battle. All other county races were uncontested, with GOP winning with incumbents in most races:
• Prosecutor Tim Bookwalter - 9,662 votes
• Clerk Heather Gilbert - 9,581 votes
• Recorder Tracy Bridges - 9,587 votes
• Sheriff Scott Stockton - 9,861 votes
• Surveyor David Penturf - 9,624 votes
• County Council District 1 David Fuhrman - 2,651 votes
• County Council District 2 Jill Bridgewater - 2,649 votes
• County Council District 4 Keith Berry - 2,340
Additionally, Deputy Assessor Janet Brown garnered 9,525 votes in replacing retiring Assessor Nancy Dennis.
Even at the township trustee level, Republicans won all four contested races.
Republican Tina Sillery defeated Chelsea Fidler 332-111 in Clinton Township.
GOP incumbent Marsha Carrington downed Democrat Tom Chiarella 1,149-365 in Floyd Township.
In Madison Township, Republican incumbent Jeffrey Alexander defeated Democrat J.D. Grove 325-106.
In Greencastle Township, Republican Steve Butts earned another term by defeating Democrat Russell Harvey 2,293-1,478.
Across the county, only four Democrats won contested races at all — Nancy Clodfelter on the Franklin Township Advisory Board, Jerry Williams on the Madison Township Advisory Board, Russ Evans on the Greencastle Township Advisory Board and Ron Smith on the Cloverdale Township Advisory Board.
Full results for townships and all other races will be printed on Friday, Nov. 9.