Subscriber Benefit
As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowHamilton County Republicans hold solid leads in each of their county-level races, but a pile of 30,000 absentee ballots that have yet to be counted.
More than 53,000 in-person ballots and roughly one-third of Hamilton County’s absentee ballots were tallied by 9:34 p.m. Tuesday evening, when election officials issued their final report of the night. Hamilton County Clerk Kathy Williams said there are roughly 30,000 absentee ballots workers still have to tabulate starting at 8 a.m. Wednesday.
In the Hamilton County Council’s at-large race, the three candidates with the most votes win. Republicans newcomers Steve Nation of Noblesville, Sue Maki of Carmel, and incumbent Brad Beaver of Noblesville occupied the top three spots in the county’s last report of the day.
Maki, the manager of environmental initiatives and education Carmel’s utilities department, received 26.38% of the votes tallied. Beaver, who has served on the council for 24 years, received 23.35%. Nation, a former Hamilton County prosecutor and Superior Court judge, received 21.74%.
Their Democrat opponents—Victor Schleich of Carmel and Gardiner Bink of Westfield—received 14.58% and 13.94%, respectively. Roughly 24,000 votes separate Schleich from Nation.
Steve Dillinger of Noblesville did not have a Democrat challenger in this year’s election and will retain the Hamilton County Commissioners District 2 seat he’s held since 1989.
In the commissioners’ third district, incumbent Republican Mark Heirbrandt leads Democrat challenger Dan Montgomery by a margin of more than 39,000 votes. Heirbrandt received 62.32% of the votes counted, and Montgomery garnered 37.68%.
Heirbrandt, a Westfield resident, was first chosen to fill former Hamilton County Commissioner Doug Carter’s seat in early 2013. Three years later, Heirbrandt was reelected to the board.
Montgomery is president of the Indianapolis-based media software company Imagine Products and a Westfield resident.
Robin Mills, the incumbent Republican candidate for Hamilton County auditor, leads Democratic challenger Mike Roberts by more than 40,000 votes. Mills received 62.71% to Roberts’ 37.29%.
Finally, incumbent Republican Kenton Ward is winning the Hamilton County surveyor race against Democratic challenger Jake Beer. Ward received 61.25% of the vote so far to Beer’s 38.75%.
Please enable JavaScript to view this content.