A crowded field of candidates has lined up to run for office in Huntington County, far more than in any of northeast Indiana’s other counties.
Nearly every countywide officeholder has a challenger, sometimes two or three. Prosecutor Amy Richison is the only unopposed current officeholder.
It hasn’t always been this way in Huntington County, say political watchers, who offer different reasons for the surge in political interest.
But they agree that this is good for politics in Huntington County and, most importantly, good for voters.
“It’s great because the last thing anybody needs now are ho-hum elections,” said Mike Perkins, the former longtime editor of the Huntington Herald-Press.
The filing deadline for candidates to run in Indiana’s May 4 primary election was noon Friday. In Huntington County, as in many parts of the region, the primary, not the Nov. 2 general election, will likely determine who takes office.
Every county in northeast Indiana has at least one competitive primary election race. But many, if not most, of the seats are uncontested.
But not in Huntington County. The clerk’s office received 107 filings for elected office in races as varied as county assessor, sheriff, township advisory board seats and state party convention delegations.
Only two countywide positions have one candidate: prosecutor and the 1st District Council seat, which has no incumbent.
Three candidates are running against Clerk Fran Felts. Three Republicans and a Democrat are vying for the county recorder job.
“I think people are becoming concerned with the government,” said Maj. Tom Carney, of the sheriff’s department, who is running for sheriff. “I really believe we need to step up here and be a help and try to make it a better government.”
That’s one thing Carney and his opponent, Terry Stoffel, agree on.
“All these races, they’re looking for a change, and they’re looking for something different,” said Stoffel, who was chief of the Huntington city police department for eight years. “I think people are starting to be a lot more conscientious about their tax dollars.”
Perkins, who is director of the Parkview Huntington Foundation, said he believes the surge in candidates is the result of the county catching a wave of interest in government that has swept through national politics. That interest, and concern for what policy-makers are doing with taxpayer money, has trickled down to local politics, he said.
Dwight D. Brautigam, a Huntington University history professor and former county councilman, said many of the candidates have been in government before and are looking to get back, possibly as a way to take on more responsibility and a bigger paycheck in the lagging economy.
Brautigam said that in a county the size of Huntington, personalities could also be among the reasons candidates have filed for office.
“It could be multiple reasons,” he said. “But it all adds up to a whole bunch of contested races.”
