Early voting starts Monday

Election Day is still a couple of weeks away.

The opportunity to vote begins Monday.

Early voting for this year’s municipal election begins at 8:30 a.m. Monday in the voting room just inside the south door of Jay County Courthouse.

It will be available 8:30 a.m. to noon and 1 to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday through Nov. 3. It will also be available from 8 a.m. to noon Saturdays, Oct. 28 and Nov. 4, and 8:30 a.m. to noon Monday, Nov. 6.

Polls will be open from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Election Day Nov. 7.

A pair of mayoral races highlight this year’s ballot.

In Portland, former two-term mayor Randy Geesaman and Portland police dispatcher Jeff Westlake are seeking to take over for Republican John Boggs, who finished third in a four-way Republican primary in May in his bid for a second term. Geeesaman, a Democrat, defeated incumbent Republican Bruce Hosier in the 2011 general election and served two terms before losing to Boggs in 2019. Westlake, a Republican, is making his first run for elected office.

Dunkirk voters have a choice between incumbent Democrat Jack Robbins and Republican Jay Miller. Robbins, a retired contractor, is seeking his second term in office after defeating incumbent Republican Gene Ritter in the 2019 general election. (He is hoping to become the city’s first mayor to earn re-election since Grant Fager in 1991.) 

Miller, who is a U.S. Air Force veteran and retired call center manager, is making another run for office after finishing third in a three-way race for Dunkirk clerk-treasurer in 2019.

There are also contested races for Redkey clerk-treasurer and two Portland City Council seats.

Mary Eley, a Democrat, is seeking her own term in office as clerk-treasurer of Redkey after she was appointed in 2020 to replace the retiring Debbie James. The incumbent is facing a challenge from Gloria May, a former Jay County Sheriff’s Office employee.

Portland is guaranteed at least two new city council members as Don Gillespie (District 4) and Janet Powers (at-large) are not seeking re-election. Three candidates are seeking the two at-large seats, with incumbent Democrat Dave Golden trying for a second term in office against first-time Republican candidates Larry Nuckols and Ashley Hilfiker.

For the District 4 seat, former city council member Judy Aker, a Democrat who served four terms before choosing not to run in 2019, is facing off against Republican Ron May.

Uncontested in the municipal election are: 

Portland — Incumbent Democrat Lori Phillips for clerk-treasurer; Donald Gillespie for city court judge; incumbent Republican Matt Goldsworthy for city council District 1; incumbent independent Mike Aker for city council District 2; incumbent Republican Michele Brewster for city council District 3; and incumbent Republican Kent McClung for city council District 5.

Dunkirk — Incumbent Democrat Tina Elliott for clerk-treasurer; Republican Dan Watson for city council at-large; Republican Randy Murphy for city council District 1; Democrat Donna Revolt for city council District 2; incumbent Republican Jesse Bivens for city council District 3; and incumbent Democrat Christy Curts for city council District 4.

Redkey — Democrat “Watermellon” Jim Phillips and Republicans David Dudelston and Brenda Beaty, all for town council (three at-large seats are up for election)