End of the Brainard Era in Carmel & Westfield will look quite different in 2024
UPDATE: A previous version of this story failed to mention Democrat Paula Jo Gilliam of Noblesville, who will be on the November ballot as an At Large candidate for one of three spots on the City Council.
While the voter turnout may have been low for the May 2 primary, the changes coming across the county are larger than we can yet know.
Click here to read the Tuesday, May 3 edition. Full results appear on Page 3.
Carmel
Sue Finkam has won the Republican primary for Carmel mayor and, if fundraising is any indication, will now face off against a strong Democratic opponent in current city council member Miles Nelson in November.
Teresa Ayers was technically an incumbent, having been caucused into her seat earlier this year, and she made an impressively strong showing against two opponents to win the GOP nod for November. She will now face Democratic opposition from Courtney Culver in the general election.
Sara Draper and Jake Madore will face off on the Democratic side against Jeff Worrell, Rich Taylor, and Matthew J. Snyder for three at-large council seats.
Tony Green ran unopposed for the GOP South Central council seat but will face Democrat Jessica Irvine in November. Similarly, Republican Adam Aasen will face Democrat Jeremy Eltz.
Cicero
First-time candidate Emily Pearson has defeated sitting Town Council President Chad Blueher, who was caucused in after Jack Russell left the council.
Fishers
Jennifer Kehl has won the GOP race for City Clerk by a wide margin primary against Rachel Segars and will now gear up for a November election against Democrat Janet Pritchett.
Noblesville
After having the district boundaries moved and having to run At Large instead of in his familiar district, Pete Schwartz made the cut to be on the November ballot along with fellow Republicans Darren Peterson and Evan Elliott. They will face Democrat Paula Jo Gilliam in the general election.
Mark Boice, who was previously an At Large member of the council, decided to run in District 4 for the seat currently held by Dan Spartz. That race was uncontested because Spartz held to his word about not running for election when he was caucused into his seat on the council.
Westfield
And then there was Westfield.
That could be a very different city in years to come as one council member, Scott Willis, moves to the November GOP mayoral ballot with no Democratic opponent. The city will have a new Clerk-Treasurer as well, presumably in Marla Ailor.
Westfield will have a completely new city council with no incumbents surviving the primary and two Democrats on the ballot for November.
Democrat Gary Lane will vie in November for one of two At Large seats against GOP candidates Chad Huff and Kurt Wanninger.
Patrick T. Tamm won the GOP nod for November in District 4 and will face Democrat Alexis Lowry.
Whatever happens in November, the entire Westfield City Council, as well as the Clerk-Treasurer, will be new to Westfield elected office in January 2024. The mayor, while he will be new to that job, will be the only person in the room who previously had been involved in council proceedings of any fashion.
Comments from three of Tuesday’s winners
“We knew to win this we had to have a strong grassroots presence. I was working as many hours and doing as many things as possible. I’m super appreciative that it resonated with voters and I’m looking forward to taking the next step.
“My favorite book is The Obstacle Is the Way and we knew the obstacle in this race was that Kevin had worked really hard and done a good job of raising a lot of money. For us to work around that we had to do grassroots, which meant engaging voters. I’m super proud of the fact that we raised most of our dollars from individual donors. And with those individual donors come votes and in some cases families of votes. We just knew we had to get in front of enough people with our message. We knew early our message was resonating, we just didn’t know how many people we could get in front of and how many people it would take.
“We felt with my marketing background and Kory’s background in running campaigns, if we were super targeted, we didn’t need that kind of war chest. If you target the right voters at the right time in the right way – if you get in front of them in a meaningful way – that’s what we talked about from the very beginning.”
– Sue Finkam, Carmel mayoral candidate
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“Thank you to everyone who supported my campaign as well as everyone who came out to participate in the Republican Primary whether they voted for me or not. I am looking forward to continuing to work to earn the voters confidence in general election this November. I thank both Leah York and Chuck Ford for their work in the community and their contributions to the ongoing discussion on how to keep Carmel a great place to live and work. I will continue to work as hard as I can for Carmel and to make my father Paul Ayers proud who died last week while working tirelessly for my campaign to push us over the finish line in the primary.”
– Teresa Ayers, Carmel City Council candidate
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“I’d like to thank all of my friends, my family, the Fire Fighters Union, my neighbors – because my neighbors were instrumental in this, and the wonderful owners of The Reporter, my favorite newspaper. I’d like to thank Chad for running a clean race and for his service to the Town of Cicero. I promise the residents of Cicero that I uphold their faith and trust as I do my best to serve them well.”
– Emily Pearson, Cicero Town Council candidate
Photos provided