BLOOMINGTON − A long-time local office holder and a former county employee won big victories in Tuesday night’s Primary Election on the Democratic Party side, while a long-time Republican was ousted.
Longtime Monroe County Assessor Judy Sharp, easily beat her challenger in the Democratic Party Primary, garnering about two-thirds of the vote.
Sharp, who has held the office for 40 years, received 8,048 votes, or just over 66%, compared to challenger Bob Nyquist’s 4,118 votes, or about 34%, according to unofficial totals.
No Republican ran in the primary.
Tree Martin Lucas, a Democrat and former Monroe County Clerk’s office employee, scored a solid victory against Primary opponents Tanner Dale Branham and Joe Davis.
The three were trying to succeed Monroe County Clerk Nicole Browne, who cannot run again because of term limits.
Lucas received 5,774 votes, or nearly 48% of the total, with Branham finishing second with 3,787 votes, or 31%, to Davis 2,549, or 21%.
Lucas said she showed up at election headquarters every day at 7:30 a.m., and that commitment made a difference.
“And my slogan, ‘Experience matters,’ because it does,” she said.
Lucas had worked in the clerk’s office for eight years, including as chief deputy and election supervisor.
Lucas will face Republican Julie M. Hays in the General Election in the fall. Hays, who was unopposed in the Republican Party Primary, works for Cook Medical.
Clear Creek Township trustee
Incumbent Clear Creek Township Trustee Thelma Kelley Jeffries, who has held the office since 1991, was ousted in a narrow three-way race by challenger Steven A. Hinds.
Hinds received 181 votes, or nearly 42%, to Jeffries’ 161 votes, or 37%. The third candidate, Thomas Ty Mungle, garnered 92 votes, or 21%.
Hinds is a Clear Creek Township board member and director of operations with private security firm Security Pro 24/7. He 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, was unopposed in the primary.
Perry Township trustee
Perry Township Trustee Leon Gordon easily held off a challenge by Levi Combs in the Democratic Party Primary.
Gordon received 3,374 votes, or nearly 61% of the total, to Combs’ 2,176 votes or 39%.
Gordon was sworn in Feb. 3 after the death of longtime Perry Township Trustee Dan Combs, father of Levi Combs.
No Republican ran in the primary.
Candidates in many other offices were unopposed in the Primary
Other offices are up for election but were not contested in the primary. In all but one of the following races — Richland Township trustee — the unopposed candidate was the incumbent. Only one of the following offices has unopposed candidates in both the Democratic and Republican primaries.
Boris Ladwig can be reached at bladwig@heraldt.com.
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Incumbent Democrat wins primary, while incumbent Republican ousted
Reporting by Boris Ladwig, The Herald-Times / The Herald-Times
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