Hamilton County Republicans staged their annual Lincoln Day Dinner Wednesday night with U.S. Senator Todd Young, introduced as a hometown boy, as the featured speaker. Young, who defeated Evan Bayh in last fall’s election, spent his early years in the county graduating from Carmel High School in 1990.
Although 2017 is not an election year, one would hardly know it as several early candidates for next year’s GOP primary were present. Four hopefuls seeking to unseat Sen. Joe Donnelly were introduced. They are Mark Hurt, Terry Henderson, Luke Messer and Todd Rokita. Besides the Senate candidates there were candidates and likely candidates for county sheriff in attendance. Only Bill Clifford and Jason Sloderbeck have publicly announced their intentions, but two or three others were circulating in the crowd scouting the political landscape and meeting party workers.
The Lincoln Day event, held at the Ritz Charles, is a party tradition designed to honor the first Republican President, Abraham Lincoln. The dinner party draws most Republican officeholders, party workers and many donors. It is planned by GOP County Chairwoman Laura Campbell and her central committee members.