Jay voters split their tickets

Twenty-five years ago this week, Jay County voters split their tickets as they elected one Republican commissioner and one Democratic commissioner.

The Nov. 6, 1996, edition of The Commercial Review featured coverage of an election day during which Republican Mike Leonhard unseated incumbent Democrat Ernie Muhlenkamp for Jay County Commissioner in the north district while Democrat Gary Theurer topped Republican Jim Zimmerman for commissioner in the south district.

The county seemed split from top to bottom of the ballot as it favored Republican Bob Dole for president by a 3,584-3,356 margin over Democrat Bill Clinton, with Reform Party candidate Ross Perot garnering 1,022 votes. Meanwhile, local voters favored Democrat Frank O’Bannon for governor and backed Democrat Ron Liggett to a third term as state representative for District 33.

Leonhard scored a solid win over Muhlenkamp, who was seeking a third term as commission, winning by a 4,389-3,506 margin. Theurer’s victory over Zimmerman was much tighter as he eked out a 3,801-3,747 victory.

“People are going to have to be patient with me and Mike going in at the same time,” said Theurer. “We’re going to have to learn about some of the things that are going on. I’m looking forward to working with Milo (Miller) and Mike. We have to get together come the first of the year and decide what changes we want to make.”

(Leonhard would go on to serve a total of three terms as commissioner with a decade as a county council member in between. Theurer served three consecutive terms as commissioner and then also moved to Jay County Council. Both retired from local government at the close of 2020.)

In other 1996 races, Democrat Andy Schemenaur, an incumbent, led a tight five-candidate race for at-large seats of Jay County Council. He was followed by Republicans Michael Hunt and Stephen Myron, who edged Democrat Doug Jackson by just 29 votes.