As always on the day after an election, the Allen County Republican Party will have its Coney Dog Lunch at 11:30 a.m. Wednesday at party headquarters, 135 W. Main St.

Party Chairman Steve Shine said Tuesday he expects a full house. Shine was unsure whether statewide candidates would attend. Last spring, State Treasurer Richard Mourdock showed up for lunch the day after the Republican primary election in which he defeated six-term Sen. Richard Lugar.

Shine predicted "a significant Republican victory" in Allen County, based in part on an analysis of 33,314 ballots cast in early in-person and mail voting.

He said early voting was up 10 percent among people who have voted in Republican primary elections and down by smaller percentages among those who have voted in Democratic primaries and those who have been deemed to have no party affiliation.

Those trends cannot account for people who split their tickets in general elections, which Allen County voters did in 2000, choosing Republican George Bush for president, Democratic Gov. Frank O'Bannon and Republican Lugar, and in 2004, when they favored Bush, Republican Mitch Daniels for governor and Democratic Sen. Evan Bayh.