(La Porte County, IN) - A Mill Creek farmer gained the Republican nomination for a seat on the La Porte County Commissioners during Tuesday night’s primary election. Steve Holifield will face retired La Porte County Police officer Mike Kellems in the November general election. Kellems was unopposed in the democratic race for the District 2 seat on the three member county commission.
Holifield said he was a little surprised at his victory but credited supporters with helping to get his message out during the campaign. He defeated La Porte County Auditor Tim Stabosz by well over 500 votes and Martin Smith by nearly two thousand votes.
“My friends, my supporters and people in the county government, especially the employees that have backed me have been telling me we got you, we got you. You help us, we’ll help you,” he said.
One of his primary messages during the campaign was restoring civility to La Porte County government, which has been embroiled in political fighting since Stabosz became Auditor and Joe Haney joined the Commission in 2021.
“I think people were just tried of the incivility in county government. I’m not going to knock Tim. I don’t believe in that,” he said.
Haney, who ran unopposed for the Republican Party nomination in his bid for a second term as District 3 commissioner, will face La Porte County Council President Randy Novak, who ran unopposed for the Democratic Party nomination.
Julianne Havens gained the Republican nomination in the race for La Porte Circuit Court Judge by defeating Charles D. Watterson, IV and Kurt Earnst. Havens received 41 percent of the vote to 30 percent for Watterson and 28 percent Earnst. There were no Democratic candidates for La Porte Circuit Judge, but the party will have an opportunity to slate a candidate in the race for November.
La Porte County Clerk Heather Stevens, a Republican, and Angie Henzman, a Democrat, will face each other in November after running unopposed for their respective party nominations for Clerk.
La Porte County Councillman Mike Rosenbaum defeated Rhonda Graves for the Republican nomination in the La Porte County Auditor’s race. Rosenbaum received 55-percent of the vote. No Democrats sought the party’s nomination in the race for Auditor.
La Porte County Recorder Ela Bilderback gained the Republican nomination in her bid for a second term. She defeated former La Porte City Councilwoman Sharon Kirkham by four percent of the vote.
Dan Barenie won the Republican nomination for La Porte County Treasurer over Juanita Haney by just over 1,000 votes. Barenie will face incumbent Treasurer Joie Winski, who was unopposed for the Democratic nomination.
Brett Kessler, Adam Koronka and Heather Oake gained the republican nomination for three La Porte County Council At-Large seats. Local contractor Mitch Feikes finished fourth in that race by just 32 votes.
Incumbent Mike Mollenhauer along with Johnny Stimley and Scott Ford won the Democratic Party nominations for three La Porte County Council At-Large seats by easily outdistancing Timothy Cavinder and Anthony Hicks.
Incumbent La Porte County Coroner Lynn Swanson, a Republican, will face Democrat Mark Baker in November. Both of them ran unopposed for their respective party nominations.
La Porte County Surveyor Anthony Hendricks also ran unopposed for the Republican nomination and will face Democrat John Matwyshyn, who also did not have a primary challenger.
