Indiana primary 2020: Two incumbents lose in the Republican race for HamCo Council seats

John Tuohy
Indianapolis Star

With all votes counted, two challengers are the winners in the Republican race for at-large Hamilton County Council seats.

Challenger Sue Maki, who works for Carmel Utilities, and retired Hamilton County Judge Steve Nation are in. Long-time councilor Rick McKinney and Jeff Hern, who is finishing his first term, are out.

Incumbent Brad Beaver was the third highest vote-getter and will qualify alongside Maki and Nation for the general election in November. They will face one Democrat — Gardiner Bink — in the general with the top three taking the three seats.

Maki grabbed 17.9% of the vote, Beaver had 15% and Nation had 14.9%. Retired four-term Noblesville Mayor John Ditslear came in fourth.

Sue Maki.

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More than 72,000 people cast votes — more than half by mail — for a voter turnout of 29%. Because of the unprecedented number of mail-in ballots — 10 times normal the usual amount — it took election officials until 5 p.m. Wednesday to count them all.

Maki said the win "shows the need for change" and said she relayed on "grassroots support."

"People in the community know of the work I've done for them in the past," said Maki, who helped start a recycling program and overhaul trash collections as manager of Environmental Initiatives and Education for Carmel Utilities.

The results promise to change the make-up of the council from a mostly fiscal conservative body to one that spends more freely on a wider range of projects, especially those that help cities.

"This will further change the council quite a bit," said Beaver, who has served 24 years and is one of the conservatives. "I think we are going to see more social engineering programs. Neither of the other two promoted the idea that they were fiscal conservatives."

The incoming fiscal moderates are in alignment with the three county commissioners, who decide what projects to pursue but need funding approval from the council and often feel stymied by the council, which allocates the funds for those projects. The mayors of Carmel, Noblesville, Fishers and Carmel have also expressed frustration that the county isn’t doing more for cities.

Retired Hamilton County Judge Steve Nation

Nation, who was twice considered to fill vacancies on the Indiana Supreme Court, had said he discovered after retirement he could do some good for some of his long-time causes as a county councilor.

One of those causes is the Youth Assistance Program that helps troubled children find mentors, programs, food, clothing and other services.

Maki also supports broadening the Youth Assistance Program and both back a new police and fire training academy, which some of the conservatives opposed.

Call IndyStar reporter John Tuohy at 317-444-6418. Email at john.tuohy@indystar.com and follow on Twitter and Facebook.