Some Delaware County school board races will be decided by voters; some are already over

Robin Gibson, Muncie Star Press
·3 min read
A voting machine stands ready at a Muncie polling site on Primary Election Day, Tuesday, May 3, 2022.

MUNCIE, Ind. — Residents of several Delaware County school districts outside of Muncie will have school board races to vote on in November after all.

Three out of six Delaware County school boards will have at least one contested race — in some cases a three- or four-way race — to be decided by voters on Nov. 8. As has often happened in recent school board elections, the other three will have no actual race, and one district even has an open seat for which no candidate filed, according to a final list provided by the Delaware County clerk's election office on Friday afternoon.

Earlier:Recent school board elections have had few actual races. Will this year be any different?

Filing for school board elections closed at noon Friday.

School board seats up for election in Delaware County this November and the candidates who filed to run for them are:

  • Cowan, three at-large seats: Incumbent Alan Wright filed to run, along with Paul Hansard and Kimberlie Campbell. Current members Angela Johnson and Mike Van Horn did not file seeking reelection, according to the election office.

  • Daleville, two at-large seats: Current school board members Diane Evans and Ron Halbert Jr. both filed to run for reelection.

  • Delaware Community, three seats: Lance Engle filed for another term in the Delaware Township seat. Alice Gillis filed for the Niles Township seat current held by Jacob Case, who did not file to run for reelection, according to the election office. No candidate was listed as having filed for the Union Township seat currently held by Trent Fox.

  • Liberty-Perry, three seats: Incumbent Keith Davis and challengers Craig Standish and Shane Wise filed for the Liberty Township seat. Incumbent Kevin Thomas is challenged by Eugene Ferris and Shane Sites for the at-large seat. Incumbent Robert Cook was the only one to file for his current Perry Township seat.

  • Wes-Del, three seats: Incumbent Todd Trehearne is being challenged for the Harrison Township seat by Christopher Shipley, James Schneider and Amy Townsend. Incumbent Richard Johnson is being challenged for the at-large seat by Britany Mauck. Larry Batt is unchallenged for reelection to the Washington Township seat. (The election office reported on Friday that Tyler Niccum also had filed for Harrison Township, but was removed from the list because he did not live in that district.)

  • Yorktown, three at-large seats. Incumbents Ryan Kelly, Pat LaVelle and Tom Simpson and challenger Victoria Gasaway all filed to run.

The Muncie Community School Board is now appointed by the Ball State University Trustees and president, rather than being elected by voters in the school district.

In addition to school board elections, the ballot for the Nov. 8 general election will include races for U.S. Senate and the Indiana Legislature; state offices including auditor, treasurer and secretary of state; and county offices including commissioner, council, sheriff, coroner, judge, clerk, assessor, auditor and recorder, as well as township and town races.

Citizens who aren't already registered to vote have through Oct. 11 to do so in time to cast ballots in the general election. In-person absentee voting in advance of Election Day will be Oct. 12-noon Nov. 7, while the deadline to apply for an absentee ballot by mail is Oct. 27.

To register to vote, apply online to vote absentee or check on voter registration status, polling site for Election Day or who will be on the ballot, go to indianavoters.in.gov.

Related:Voting rights are still a battleground in Indiana

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This article originally appeared on Muncie Star Press: Some Delaware County school board races will be decided by voters