Friday, February 17, 2006

2006 Election news

Jeff Ellington, who lost to Iris Kiesling in the 2004 County Commissioner race in the John Kerry tide, filed to run for County Commissioner in the newly drawn District 1.

This is great. Jeff is arguably the best name the GOP could put forward against Democrat candidate Pat Stoffers. The Ellington name is strong enough that his sister defeated then-Republican Party chairman (and former state representative candidate) John Shean in a countywide primary race for delegate to state convention, 2846 to 2435.

Of course, there was one other candidate who got 942 votes, enough to deny either an outright majority.

Ellington was previously elected at-large to the County Council in 2000 and 1996. In official results, Ellington missed being the #1 vote getter in 2000 by one vote. Uncounted votes discovered after the election revealed he got more votes than anyone else.

Ellington also came closer to beating Democrat Peggy Welch than any other Republican running for state representative in District 60. Ellington/Welch was close, and Welch has made a habit of stomping on her GOP opponents in every election since.

There was talk within the GOP of Marty Hawk running for Commissioner, but she decided to stick with the County Council. I think this was a good decision. While I'm sure Marty could win a Commissioner's race, she is a unique talent when it comes to financial matters in county government. The people of Monroe County would lose a major asset if this budget hawk (pun intended) were to leave the Council for a non-financial office.

In other election news, IU student Adrianne Dunlap filed today to run for State Representative in District 61 against Matt Pierce. She's a very nice young lady and I expect her to do well.