One win for local Democrats

A single Democrat found success at the polls Tuesday in Jay County as a GOP tide swept across the country.
Wesley Schemenaur won handily in the race for county prosecutor with 57 percent of the vote while defeating Republican Gregory W. LeMaster. Schemenaur, who has served as deputy prosecutor under longtime prosecutor Robert A. Clamme, received 3,210 votes to 2,422 for LeMaster, a Portland attorney.
But in most races of the day, the hearts of Jay voters belonged to the Republicans with Jay County voters supporting Dan Coats for Senate, Mike Pence for Congress, and Bill Davis for the Indiana House by substantial margins.
Local voters also leaned heavily Republican in contested races for county office.
Incumbent Milo Miller Jr. knocked off Democratic challenger Zeb Sutton with more than 61 percent of the vote. Miller defeated Sutton 3,534 to 2,182, with most of Sutton’s support coming from traditional Democratic strongholds in Dunkirk and Redkey.
Republican Bev Myers scored a victory over Democrat Ken Wellman in the race for county recorder with a final vote tally of 3,056 to 2,526.
And in the only contested race for a seat on the Jay County Council, it was Republican Mike Rockwell outpolling Democrat Lisa Barnett 1,025 to 817.
Rockwell will be joined on the council by Democrat Ted Champ and Republicans Mike Leonhard and Robert Vance Sr., none of whom were opposed.
Other unopposed candidates for countywide offices included incumbents Ray Newton as sheriff, Nancy Culy as auditor, and Diana Stults as assessor.
Bill Davis, on his way back to another term in the Indiana House defeated Ron Liggett easily in a re-match from prior elections. Jay totals showed Davis with 3,470 to Liggett’s 2,195.
Also headed back to the Indiana General Assembly was Republican Allen Paul in the 27th District race where he easily defeated Libertarian Donald Crossley.
Schemenaur, 31, was the only Democrat winner in a contested local race.
“I’m very pleased with the results obviously. I’m thankful for the county’s support (and) I look forward to serving as prosecutor for the next four years and … keeping the citizens of this county safe. I’m just a little overwhelmed right now,” Schemenaur said at an otherwise subdued Democrat headquarters Tuesday evening.
Schemenaur will replace veteran prosecutor Bob Clamme.
LeMaster, though disappointed in the outcome, was proud of the process.
“I was thinking of an old hymn tonight … ‘Humble Yourself in the Sight of the Lord,’” LeMaster said. “There’s a different plan for me, and we’ll follow it. We walked and knocked on a lot of doors … we came up short. We’ll re-group and look again at next time.”
The mood at the Republican gathering at John Jay Center for Learning was definitely upbeat, and that mood was reflected in Miller, who is finishing up his 30th year in public office (10 years as a member of the county council and 20 as commissioner).
“I guess they’ve got confidence in me for another four years … I try to treat everybody the same,” said Miller, who also serves as chairman of the county GOP. “It’s been a real honor for me to be elected as many times as I have,” Miller said.
Miller had praise for candidates of both parties for their hard work in the campaign.
“We had real good candidates. I didn’t have to go out and beat the bushes … it takes quite a bit of nerve to run for public office.” Miller said.
Challenger Sutton, who had tried to position himself as average guy against Miller, wished the four-time incumbent the best.
“He’ll represent the county well and I wish him the best. I … hope he does a good job,” said Sutton, who said he enjoyed his first foray into politics and expressed interest in seeking office in the future.
Incumbent State Rep. Davis scored perhaps a surprisingly comfortable win over Liggett, a rural Redkey resident and former State Representative who lost his seat to Davis several years ago.
As the results became clear, Davis thanked supporters at the John Jay Center for Learning and congratulated all GOP candidates on their showing. Liggett was in attendance at Democrat headquarters for part of the night, but left about the time that final results were announced.
In the only contested race for county council, Rockwell won all precincts in the victory against Barnett.
Rockwell, who admitted to being nervous as he waited for results, said that winning is “exciting. It feels good to have that vote of confidence from the public … when the results came in I was more nervous than I thought I’d be. I’m excited to get started and I told other members of the council that I’ll be at the last two meetings of the year (before taking office Jan. 1).”
Barnett, who had run for an at-large council seat several years ago, was thankful.
“I appreciate the opportunity and I thank the voters who came out to vote and thank those that did support me. It was a great run,” Barnett said.
Coats, seeking to return to the Senate seat now held by Evan Bayh, defeated Democratic Congressman Brad Ellsworth in Jay County by a vote of 3,432 to 1,986. That’s just short of 60 percent.
Pence, in what is considered a safe district and facing token opposition, received more than 67 percent of the Jay vote. Final totals showed Pence with 3,890 in the 6th District race to 1,665 for Democrat Barry Welsh and 200 for Libertarian Talmage Thompson Jr. There was one write-in vote cast.
Statehouse offices also spelled big wins for Republicans in local voting.
In the race for secretary of state, Republican Charlie White received 3,273 votes while Democrat Vop Osili received 1,986 and Libertarian Rebecca Sink-Burris received 352. There were six write-ins cast.
In the race for state auditor, Republican Tim Berry received 3,319 votes to 1,775 for Democrat Sam Locke and 319 for Eric Knipe.
In the race for state treasurer, incumbent Republican Richard Mourdock received 3,552 votes to 1,816 for Democrat Pete Buttigieg.
Jay voters were overwhelmingly supportive of making property tax caps permanent in the Indiana State Constitution, backing the amendment 3,499 to 1,770.
In the race for Redkey Town Council’s at-large seats, Republicans Jon G. Davis and David Himes defeated Democrats Bert Quakenbush and Charlie Noble, who died this week. Final tallies showed Davis with 182 and Himes with 165, while Quakenbush received 106 votes and Noble 90.
In contested township races, independent candidate Steve Cash defeated Republican Lisa Bunch by a 240 to 109 vote for Penn Township Trustee. Republican Virginia Cline defeated Democrat Leslie Dues by a vote of 122 to 86 for Noble Township Trustee. And in the race for Jefferson Township Advisory Board, voters picked Richard Nixon, Duane Monroe, and Chuck Lamken over Gregory Hersberger.[[In-content Ad]]