Two long-term Democratic Monroe County office holders are facing challengers in this year’s primary, and a third will have to leave office because of term limits.
Here are the contested races for major local offices for the May 5 primary. Early voting begins April 7.
Monroe County Prosecutor
Monroe County Prosecutor Erika Oliphant is seeking re-election, but will have to battle for the Democratic Party nomination with Benjamin T. Arrington, a staff attorney at Pro Bono Indiana Inc.’s District 10 Office, which provides free legal services to low-income Indiana residents for family and eviction cases.
Oliphant was elected in 2018 and re-elected in 2024.
She said in a news release that she plans to build on achievements that “demonstrate my commitment to community safety, compassionate justice, and constitutional values.” Among those accomplishments, she listed securing grant funding in 2019 that increased the office’s capacity for prosecution of sex and domestic violence crimes and more funding to better serve crime victims.
Arrington said that as a long-term Bloomington resident, “I feel called to serve the residents of Monroe County and give them a choice for a real progressive candidate.”
If elected, Arrington said he would stop prosecuting people for marijuana possession if they had less than 1 ounce on them, and he also would never prosecute nurses, doctors and women in reproductive rights cases. And, he said, “homelessness does not warrant prosecution by the sheer nature of being in poverty.”
No Republican has filed for the office.
Monroe County Assessor
Monroe County Assessor Judy Sharp, who has held the office for 40 years, is being challenged by Bob Nyquist, a local business professional with a background in real estate and commercial insurance underwriting. Sharp said that since she first won election to the office, she has never been challenged in a primary.
No Republican has filed.
Monroe County Clerk
Monroe County Clerk Nicole Browne cannot run again because of term limits, but three Democrats are vying to succeed her: Tanner Dale Branham, an executive assistant at Indiana University; Tree Martin Lucas, who retired from the clerk’s office in 2023 after working there for eight years, including as chief deputy and election supervisor; and Joe Davis, a self-employed contractor.
Davis in mid-January had filed to run for the Democratic Party nomination for the Monroe County Council District 2 seat, which is currently held by Kate Wiltz. However, Davis said that when he learned that Browne was term-limited, he instead decided to run for that office because of his experience with the legal system.
Davis said that he had to file liens as a contractor, had to obtain protective orders and has handled, by himself, several lawsuits, including one filed against him by the city of Bloomington. Given that background, Davis said he has a unique perspective that would allow him to improve the system and to make sure that people can get justice even when they may initially be intimidated by the system’s complexities.
He withdrew from the council race at 3:50 p.m. Feb. 5 and filed for clerk four minutes later. Wiltz is now running unopposed in the Democratic Party primary to retain her council seat.
Whoever wins the clerk’s race on the Democratic side will have an opponent in the general election in the fall: Julie M. Hays, who works for Cook Medical, is running unopposed for the Republican Party nomination.
Monroe County Commissioner
Monroe County Council members Trent Deckard and David Henry are vying for the Democratic Party nomination for Monroe County Commissioner in District 1. The seat is being held by Lee Jones, who is not running for re-election.
You can read more about Deckard at tinyurl.com/Deckard2026 and more about Henry at tinyurl.com/DHenry2026.
No Republican has filed.
Clear Creek Township trustee
The race for Clear Creek Township trustee is the only one that is contested in the primary on the Republican side. Incumbent Thelma Kelley Jeffries, who has held the office since 1991, is trying to win re-election against challengers Steven A. Hinds, a Clear Creek Township board member and director of operations with private security firm Security Pro 24/7; and Ty Mungle, assistant director of adult education at Monroe County Community School Corp.
The Republican winner will face Democrat Susan Luther in the fall. Luther, a retired attorney who formerly worked as a civilian for the Department of the Navy as counsel for the Crane naval base, is running unopposed in the primary.
Perry Township trustee
Two Democrats are vying for the party’s nomination for Perry Township trustee. The candidates include incumbent Leon Gordon, who was sworn in Feb. 3 after the death of longtime Perry Township Trustee Dan Combs; and Levi Combs, son of the late trustee, contract laborer and former city of Bloomington employee and AFSCME union president.
A former third candidate, Eric Petry, has withdrawn.
No Republican has filed.
Candidates in many other offices are unopposed in the primary
Other offices are up for election but not contested in the primary. In all but one of the following races — Richland Township trustee — the unopposed candidate is the incumbent. Only one of the following offices has unopposed candidates in both the Democratic and Republican primaries.
MCCSC and RBB school boards
The fall election also will allow voters to elect (or re-elect) some candidates for school boards.
According to the local election office, for Monroe County Community School Corp. board, the seats for districts 1, 3 and 7 are up for election, while for Richland Bean-Blossom School Corp., voters will get to choose who holds the the Bean Blossom and Richland seats.
Candidates for school board do not have to run in partisan primaries and have until June 18 to declare their candidacy.
Other offices
The primary includes election for other offices. For an exhaustive list, you can go to: tinyurl.com/Monroe2026candidates
Boris Ladwig can be reached at bladwig@heraldt.com.
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Monroe County sees rare Democratic contests in May primaries
Reporting by Boris Ladwig, The Herald-Times / The Herald-Times
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