COLUMBIA CITY – While state Sen. Marlin Stutzman emerged as the clear winner at Saturday’s Republican presidential caucus, state Rep. Randy Borror came out the loser. Borror finished second, but it wasn’t close.

Stutzman was well ahead of Borror after the first round of voting – 180-67. On the second ballot, Borror picked up just two additional votes while Stutzman received 49 more, ending the caucus after just two rounds despite the 15-candidate field. Many Republicans thought Borror would be more competitive.

No support

What were they thinking?

Why would someone enter a caucus for U.S. representative – one of the most important jobs in government – without at least gauging whether he or she had at least a little support?

Yet three of the 15 candidates in Saturday’s caucus – Richard Thonert, Scott Welsh and Greg Dickman – received zero votes on the first ballot. Two more, Lonnie Powell and Rachel Grubb, each received one.

Winners

While Stutzman was the immediate winner, the long-term victor may have been City Councilwoman Liz Brown, who finished third on the first ballot with 46 of the 407 votes. Brown delivered a fiery anti-Omaba speech that was chock-full of sound bites and familiar criticism.

Though the speech lacked originality, her verve and demeanor captured the attention of the precinct committeemen, and party members will be talking about her for another office for some time. One elected official remarked that Brown would be a good candidate for mayor.

Ryan Elijah also went over well among the precinct officials, finishing a close fourth on the first ballot with 43 and moving up to third on the second ballot.

Introductions

Before the vote, candidates were given three minutes each to make their case to the precinct committeemen. Plus, each candidate selected someone to introduce him or her, each of whom could speak for two minutes. That meant 30 speeches totaling an hour and 15 minutes.

Fellow state Rep. Matt Bell introduced Borror, while Brown turned to County Commissioner Bill Brown for her intro. Bob Thomas, still considered an outsider, brought in a well-known Allen County insider – attorney Mac Parker – for his introduction. (Thomas had 21 votes on the first ballot – just enough to make the cut for the second round of voting.)

Keeping it in the family were Stutzman (introduced by his wife, Christy); Dickman (his father, Burt); and Joe Schomburg (his uncle, Matt).

Bad blood

Most candidates shied away from challenging their competitors, but Thomas questioned where all the candidates were during the primary (when Thomas placed second of four), and Dennis Wright slammed other candidates, specifically criticizing Elijah as an “inexperienced local celebrity.”

No machines

Precinct committeemen had hoped the process would be quick by using voting machines, but they ended up using paper ballots. State party officials determined that would be faster than reprogramming the machines after each round of voting.