The Pulaski County ballot in the primary featured 12 local contested races on the Republican ticket. There were no local contests on the local Democrat ballot.
A second race for the open county commissioner District 2 seat was won by Donald Street Jr. by 50 votes over Ron Barlow Jr., 1117-1067; or 51.14% to 48.86%.
The vote totals (and percentages) for the county council at-large seats were as follows:
- Kenneth Boswell - 743 (11.43%)
- Joseph Bucinski – 371 (5.71%)
- Ed Cotner – 537 (8.26%)
- Rudy Desabatine – 660 (10.15%)
- AJ Gutwein – 860 (13.23%)
- Sheila Hazemi Jimenez – 896 (13.78%)
- Levi Messer – 707 (10.88%)
- Tim Overmyer - 766 (11.78%)
- Sara Strus – 721 (11.09%)
- Isaiah Tidwell – 240 (3.69%)
For the open office of county treasurer on the Republican ticket, Laura Wheeler defeated Rachel Spanley, 1,227 to 930.
At present, the commissioners, county council and treasurer candidates have no Democrat challengers in November. The deadline for either party to fill vacancies on the November ballot is July 3.
Winners for other local contested races (in bold) were as follows:
Beaver Precinct Committee - Ross Davis defeated Kaila Stukofski, 68-34
Franklin Precinct Committee - Ken Boswell defeated Terry Young, 60-41
Harrison Precinct Committee - Brad Bonnell defeated Betty Stinemetz, 73-52
Jefferson Precinct Committee - Betty Kruger defeated Deb Marszalik Rogers, 65-64
Monroe 4 Precinct Committee - Kelly Gaumer defeated Rudy Desabatine, 91-70
Rich Grove Precinct Committee - Gail Lambert defeated Teresa Bryant, 80-24
White Post Precinct Committee - Levi Messer defeated Patricia Tiede, 93-78
Republican State Convention Delegates (vote for 5) - JoLynn Behny (10.87%), Teresa Bryant (11.26%), Randy Davis, Sue Fox (13.21%), Kelly Gaumer, Gail Lambert, MacKenzie Ledley, Maurice Loehmer (12.03%), Isaiah Tidwell and Holly Vanderaa (11.70%).
Republican candidates in uncontested Primary county races were Circuit Court Judge Mary Welker, Superior Court Judge Crystal Brucker Kocher, Teresa Bryant for county auditor, and Marsha Tetzloff for county recorder. At present, they have no Democrat challengers for the November election.
Town Elections
In the Medaryville Town election, clerk-treasurer Stacy Conley was unopposed on the Republican ballot, and Ashlee Salyer was the only candidate for town council at-large. No candidates filed on the Democrat ticket.
In the Winamac Town election, clerk-treasurer Kendra Craft was unopposed, and Tom Murray and James Watkins were the only candidates (for three at-large seats on the town council. All three will appear on the Republican ticket for the November election. On the Democrat ballot, no candidate filed for clerk-treasurer. Aaron Hoover and Larry Weaver were the two candidates for town council, and they will be on the Democrat ticket for the November election.
Voter Turnout
Pulaski County had a 28.6 percent voter turnout for the 2024 Indiana Primary Election Tuesday, as reported by the county election board (compared to 21.71 percent in the 2022 Primary and 31.03 percent in the 2020 Primary).
A total of 2,638 voters cast ballots, out of a total 9,225 registered voters. (Those numbers were 1,975 voters out of a total 9,098 registered in 2022.) Of those who voted, 1,813 cast their ballots on election day, while 733 participated in early in-person voting, and 92 took advantage of mail-in voting.
National and State Races
On the Republican ballot for U.S. President, Pulaski County voters chose Donald Trump over Nikki Haley, 1,846 to 440, or 80% to 20%. (Haley withdrew from the race in March, but her candidacy had qualified to appear on the Indiana ballot.) Statewide, Trump received 78.3% of the vote, compared to Haley's 21.7%. On Wednesday, national media outlets (including AP, Reuters, Business Insider, Politico, The Hill) were observing that Haley captured 1-in-5 Republican votes in the Indiana Primary.
For Indiana governor, local Republicans favored Mike Braun 43.98% over Suzanne Crouch 20.77% and Brad Chambers 14.91%, followed by Curtis Hill 8.6%, Eric Doden 7.26% and Jamie Reitenour 3.48%. Statewide Braun received 39.6% of the vote, while Crouch earned 21.8% and Chambers 17.5%. (Crouch received more votes than Braun in the Indianapolis (Marion County) and Evansville (Vanderburgh, Warrick counties) areas.
U.S. Senate candidate Jim Banks, U.S. Rep. Rudy Yakym, State Sen. Ed Charbonneau and State Reps. Kendell Culp and Jack Jordan were all unopposed on the Republican ballot.
On the Democrat ballot, President Joseph Biden, governor candidate Jennifer McCormick, U.S. Representative Dist. 2 candidate Lori Camp and State Senator Dist. 5 candidate Leslie Nuss Bamesberger were all unopposed.
On the November ticket:
- Donald Trump (R) and Joe Biden* (D) are the presumptive candidates (to be nominated at their respective party conventions this summer) for U.S. President
- Jim Banks (R) vs. Valerie McCray (D) for U.S. Senator
- Mike Braun (R) vs. Jennifer McCormick (D) for Indiana Governor
- Rudy Yakym* (R) vs. Lori Camp (D) for U.S. Rep. Dist. 2
- Ed Charbonneau* (R) vs. Leslie Nuss Bamesberger (D) for State Senate Dist. 5
- Kendell Culp* (R) vs. possible Democrat candidate to be named for State Representative Dist. 16
- Jack Jordan* (R) vs. possible Democrat candidate to be named for State Representative Dist. 17
This article will be updated as necessary