Watson removed from ballot

Kelly Watson will not be on the primary ballot.

Jay County Election Board on Thursday upheld a challenge to Watson’s candidacy for the Democrat nomination for Dunkirk clerk-treasurer.

Watson had filed Jan. 11 to run for the office. Jay County Democrat Party chairman Randy Mann filed a challenge to her candidacy Feb. 14.

Indiana Code states that in order to run in a major party primary election, a candidate must establish affiliation with that party in one of two ways:

1) Voting in that party’s most recent primary election.

2) Getting a signed statement from the party chair affirming the candidate’s affiliation with the party.

When filling out her election filing paperwork to run as a Democrat, Watson checked the box indicating that she had voted in the party’s most recent primary. That is not the case.

According to election filing records, Watson pulled Republican ballots in both the 2018 and 2016 primary elections. She last voted in a Democrat primary in 2011.

In stating his case for the challenge, Mann cited Indiana Code and noted Watson’s primary voting history. He added that guidance from Democrats at the district and state level indicated that in a case in which there is another established Democrat in the field, he should support that candidate. For Dunkirk clerk-treasurer, incumbent Tina Elliott is seeking re-election and established her party affiliation by taking a Democrat ballot in the most recent primary.

In defending her candidacy, Watson asked Mann if any other candidates in the party also failed to vote in its most recent primary or get a signed statement from him.

Mann acknowledged that there were two others, though he did not name them during the hearing.

(After the meeting, Mann confirmed that those candidates are Dunkirk City Council at-large candidate Ron Hunt, who is challenging incumbent Tom Johnson, and incumbent Portland clerk-treasurer Lori Aker Ferguson, who is unopposed.) No challenges were filed against either prior to the deadline, which was Feb. 15.

The board heard testimony only from Watson and Mann. Jay Circuit Court clerk Jon Eads explained after the meeting that if someone else had wanted to offer testimony, they would have needed to notify the election board in advance of the meeting.

Following the testimony, Eads laid out the rules for election filing as stated in Indiana Code and summarized the evidence presented.

Election board members Carmen Craig (Republican), Dominic Martyne (Democrat) and Eads then voted unanimously to uphold Mann’s challenge, which results in Watson’s removal from the ballot.