Starke County Voters Narrow List of Candidates in County Races

  
 

A six-way race to choose the Democratic nominee for the Starke County Commissioner District 3 seat ends with Karen Tibbs being chosen to face Republican Charles Chesak in November. They’re hoping to replace Kent Danford, who is not seeking reelection. Tibbs received nearly 28 percent of the vote, while the second-place Democratic candidate, Joseph Woods only got 19 percent.

In the District 1 Starke County Commissioners race, Buddy Ringle defeated Lonnie Boley by a margin of 62-to-38-percent. Ringle will try to unseat Republican Kathy Norem, who was unopposed in the primary.

Starke County Surveyor Bill Crase appears to hold onto his position. Crase received 62-percent of the vote in the Democratic primary, compared to challenger Rusty Poort’s 38-percent. No Republican has filed to run for Surveyor.

Starke County voters were split when it came to choosing nominees for District 8 State Senator. On the Republican side, Allen Stevens received 51-percent of the vote in Starke County, compared to Mike Bohacek’s 49-percent. Starke County Democrats chose Dan Cruz over Maxine Spenner by a margin of about half a percent.

In the presidential race, Starke County generally followed the rest of the state. Donald Trump received 66-percent of the vote in Starke County, while Ted Cruz finished with 29-percent. Meanwhile, Democrats chose Bernie Sanders over Hillary Clinton by a margin of 55-to-45-percent.

Just under 35-percent of registered voters in Starke County took part in Tuesday’s primary, with about a fifth of those voting absentee.

2016 Starke County Primary Election Results