Longtime Hamilton County councilman loses seat

A longtime Hamilton County Council member lost his seat in Tuesday’s primary election.

Mark Hall defeated five-term incumbent Steve Schwartz in the District 3 election. District 3 includes Noblesville, Jackson and White River Townships.

Hall and Schwartz were opponents in the 2018 Republican primary when Schwartz came out on top.

This time, Hall defeated Schwartz, earning 58% of the vote with 4,487 votes to Schwartz’s 3,191. Hall does not currently have a Democratic challenger in November’s general election.

Schwartz was first elected to the Hamilton County Council in 2002.

In an interview with IBJ last month, Hall criticized $42 million in cost overruns on State Road 37 and what he described as county officials’ lack of transparency with the public.

In District 1, which encompasses most of Carmel and the western edge of Fishers, Tim Griffin, a firefighter with the Carmel Fire Department, faced former Carmel City Council member John Accetturo.

Griffin, a political newcomer, won the primary race with 71% of the vote. He received 4,296 votes to Accetturo’s 1,725.

Griffin also does not currently have a Democratic challenger in the general election. He told IBJ in April that he wanted to provide oversight on programs and serve as a check and balance for the county commissioners.

Griffin and Accetturo ran to replace two-term incumbent councilman Fred Glynn, who is in a close race in Tuesday’s primary election to represent Indiana House District 32.

In the general election, Republican incumbent Amy Massillamany will face Democrat Nathan Bullock in the District 2 election.

District 4 Republican incumbent Ken Alexander does not currently have a Democratic opponent in the general election.