Byer on her way to victory in controversial Hamilton County treasurer’s race

Republican candidate Susan Byer appeared to have an insurmountable lead late Tuesday night in the Hamilton County treasurer’s race, where she was outpacing Democrat Jake Madore by more than 42,000 votes.

Hamilton County officials published their final election report of the evening at 9:34 p.m. on Tuesday. More than 53,000 in-person ballots and roughly one-third of the county’s absentee ballots were counted by that time, according to Hamilton County Clerk Kathy Williams. Though there are around 30,000 absentee ballots that still need to be counted starting at 8 a.m. Wednesday, Byer ended the night with 63.11% of the votes counted so far to Madore’s 36.89%.

“I’m not an overly confident person. I really believed that this would be a close race,” Byer said. “Obviously, I was pleased when the numbers were coming in and I was ahead. But, I don’t count my chickens before they’ve hatched.”

Byer said she and Madore talked before the polls closed, and Madore wasn’t ready to concede the race. Madore could not be reached by phone Tuesday night.

Byer, an Arcadia resident who spent 13 years working for the county as a bankruptcy lender clerk, acknowledged the fact that her campaign was mired in controversy.

“I tried to run on my own merit, and not talk about the drama or controversy that surrounded my firing from the county a little over two years ago,” Byer said.

Current Hamilton County Treasurer Jennifer Templeton, who is ineligible for reelection after having served in the position for two years, fired Byer in March 2018.

Byer responded by filing a lawsuit in November 2018 that claimed she was fired for pointing out alleged criminal activity in the treasurer’s office. Byer said senior staff ran afoul of the law by allowing employees to waive penalties on late property-tax payments for themselves and their family members.

Hamilton County Chief Deputy Treasurer Kim Good, Byer’s former supervisor, responded with a defamation suit that alleged Byer had made “willfully false and misleading” statements to the media as an attempt to sabotage her chances in the Republican primary.

After a nearly 7-month investigation, a special prosecutor concluded there was insufficient evidence and an absence of any applicable laws to bring charges against any county employee involved in the matter.

Byer and Good faced off in this year’s Republican primary, and Byer came out the winner with 52.7% of the vote.

Madore, a corporate tax manager from Carmel, made the controversy part of his campaign by promising to hire Templeton and Good if he won.

Byer said, if her lead holds, she just hopes the current treasurer’s office employees are treated well until she takes office in January.

“I’m very excited and ready to start this new venture,” she said.