Submitted by The Starke County Leader Newspaper Editor Jacque Ryan.
Approximately 19 percent of Starke County’s voting population cast a ballot in Tuesday’s Primary Election.
It was a close race between incumbent Democratic candidate Starke County Treasurer Kay Chaffins and her competitor Monica Miller. However, Miller pulled ahead, receiving a total of 737 votes compared to Chaffins’ 649. Miller will now face Republican candidate Lauri Manns Venckus in the General Election.
The Starke County County Council At-Large race was highly contested. There were four Republicans and five Democrats vying for the three open seats for their respective parties. Don Binkley, Kay Gudeman and Todd Leinbach received the most Republican votes and Chuck Estok, Michael Risner and Karl Swihart received the most votes out of the Democratic candidates. Those six candidates will compete for three open At-Large seats on the Starke County Council during the General Election.
Due to coronavirus concerns, there was a big push for absentee voting with this election. Starke County Clerk Bernadette Manuel noted that about 10 times more absentee mail-in ballots were received this year compared to past elections. More than 900 paper absentee ballots were submitted and 267 voters utilized in-person absentee voting. That leaves a total of 1,983 Starke County residents who went to a polling place on Tuesday, June 2 in order to cast their vote.
For additional information visit the Election Central Tab.
