Westlake, Robbins win, council race ends in tie

Portland will have a political newcomer at the helm.

Dunkirk has re-elected a mayor for the first time in more than three decades.

And one city council race remains undecided.

Tuesday's municipal election in Jay County resulted in Republican Jeff Westlake as the new mayor-elect of Portland, Jack Robbins re-elected to lead Dunkirk and incumbent Democrat Dave Golden and Republican Larry Nuckols deadlocked for the second of two open at-large spots on Portland City Council.

In addition to Westlake and Robbins, other winners in contested races were Republicans Gloria May for Redkey clerk-treasurer, Ron May for Portland City Council District 4 and Ashley Hilfiker for the first of the two at-large seats on Portland City Council.

The early voting numbers immediately showed the story for both mayoral races. Westlake took 57% of the early vote in the Portland race while Robbins earned 75% in Dunkirk.

Westlake went on to win all five precincts, earning at least 53.7% of the vote in each. His biggest win was in Wayne 7, where he earned 63.4%.

“I feel still kinda shocked,” said Westlake, who gathered with fellow Republicans at John Jay Center for Learning to listen to election results on WPGW radio. “Randy put in a lot of hard work … It wasn’t without me noticing either. I was kind of nervous there for a minute.”

Geesaman reacted with some shock at a gathering of local Democrats at Holiday Inn Express when the results of Wayne 1 were announced, leaving him with a 52-vote deficit that proved insurmountable. The final vote total was 624-426 in favor of Westlake.

With the results finalized, Geesaman and council candidate Judy Aker stopped by the Republican gathering to congratulate Westlake.

“It’s disappointing,” said Geesaman, noting that he worked hard going door-to-door campaigning. “But let me give credit to him. He did the exact same thing. He went door-to-door. … He ran as good a campaign as I did …

“I just wish him well.”

Geesaman, who served two terms as mayor from 2012 through 2019 before losing to current mayor John Boggs four years ago, said he will not run for office again.

Westlake, who won a four-way Republican primary in May that included incumbent John Boggs, said his administration will be focused on bringing a positive atmosphere to the city.

“I’m looking forward to personally getting out there,” said Westlake. “I want to inspire people. I want to motivate people.”

Robbins expanded his margin of victory from 2019, earning 65% of the vote against Republican Jay Miller. (He picked up 57% in his victory four years ago over Gene Ritter.) The final tally was 171-93.

He becomes the first Dunkirk mayor to earn re-election since Grant Fager was unopposed in 1991.

“That’s a pretty good feat to beat,” said Robbins. “There were a lot of good mayors that didn’t make it. I don’t have an answer why they didn’t.

“I think I’m going to enjoy the next four years, knowing the people appreciate what I’m doing. It makes you feel better.”

He said he wants to focus on filling downtown buildings with businesses, specifically mentioning the Todd Building and the Stewart Brothers Building.

Portland City Council member Matt Goldsworthy (left) chats with council member elect Ashley Hilfiker (right) and her husband Dustine (foreground) during a gathering of Republicans on Tuesday at John Jay Center for Learning. (The Commercial Review/Ray Cooney)

 Hilfiker dominated the three-way race for the two at-large seats on Portland City Council, racking up 669 votes. She will replace Republican Janet Powers, who chose not to seek re-election.

Golden, the incumbent Democrat, and Nuckols, a Republican, tied for second place with 485 votes apiece. They expressed similar sentiments after the results were announced.

“This is democracy,” said Golden. “We let the process play out and that’s that.”

“We’re still in the fight,” said Nuckols. “We’ll go through the process and hopefully we can still win.”

Jay County clerk Jon Eads said Tuesday evening he was unclear on how the tie would be broken and that he would contact the Indiana Secretary of State’s office Wednesday morning for guidance.

The Commercial Review searched Indiana Code on Tuesday and found that section 3-12-9-4 indicates that in the case of a tie the fiscal body of the political subdivision resolves the tie by selecting one of the candidates involved in the tie. In the City of Portland, the fiscal body is Portland City Council.

Indiana Code also indicates that candidates can file for a recount or contest an election result.

Upon checking with the state Wednesday morning, Eads confirmed those details. Candidates have until noon Nov. 21 and party chairs have until noon Nov. 27 to file a verified recount or contested petition. If the race remains a tie, Portland City Council must choose a winner by Dec. 31. (As a sitting council member, Golden would abstain from the vote. A tie would be broken by the clerk-treasurer.)

The battle for the other contested Portland City Council seat was also close with May topping former four-term council member Democrat Judy Aker 119-100. May will replace Republican Don Gillespie, who chose not to run for another term.

May nearly doubled up incumbent Democrat Mary Eley, who was appointed following the retirement of Debbie James in 2020, in the race for Redkey clerk-treasurer. She won by an 81-43 margin.

Re-elected to Portland City Council without opposition Tuesday were Republicans Matt Goldsworthy (District 1), Michele Brewster (District 3) and Kent McClung (District 5), and independent Mike Aker (District 2). Also unopposed for re-election and returning to office will be incumbent Democrat Lori Phillips (clerk-treasurer) and Republic Don Gillespie (city court judge).

All Dunkirk City Council members were elected without opposition. The council will include incumbent Republican Jesse Bivens (District 3), incumbent Democrat Christy Curts (District 4) and newcomers Republicans Dan Watson (at-large) and Randy Murphy (District 1) and Democrat Donna Revolt (District 2). Curts was elected to her own term after being chosen in 2021 to replace Lisa Street after she moved. Watson is a former mayor of Dunkirk, having served from 2012 through 2015. Also re-elected without opposition in Dunkirk was Democrat Tina Elliott for clerk-treasurer.

In Redkey all three town council candidates were guaranteed victory with three at-large seats available. Joining council will be Democrat "Watermellon" Jim Phillips and Republicans David Dudelston and Brenda Beaty.

Voter turnout came in at 28.1%, with 1,498 ballots cast amongst 5,332 registered voters. Of that total, 574 (38%) voted early with 924 casting ballots on Election Day.

There were 223 straight party Republican ballots and 84 for the Democrats.