MORGAN COUNTY — There’s a new sheriff in town — judge and prosecutor, too. Commissioner? Sorta.
Nearly 10,000 voters cast a ballot in this year’s Morgan County primary, representing 18.3 percent of the county’s 53,917 registered voters. That’s up 25.6 percent over 2022’s primary vote count of 7,855, and early voting played a role.
Early voting saw an increase of 35 percent, with 3,832 people casting a ballot early, whether by walk-in or mail. That’s up from 2,845 in 2022.
When the final uncertified votes were tallied, Mike Kirsch came out on top with 35.8 percent of the vote in the three-way Republican battle for commissioner in District 2, with Bethaney Latham a mere 238 votes behind. Kirsch was caucused into the position in early March, but Tuesday’s victory constitutes a major hurdle toward his first official election to county office.
In the sheriff’s race, Dan Downing won handily over Brent Worth by 18 percentage points in the Republican primary. And it was a similar story in the prosecutor’s race, where Cassie Mellady beat Joe Gaunt by just over 20 percent.
The judge’s race in Superior Court I had a late surprise after early voting put Dakota VanLeeuwen ahead of Jerry Smith by more than 9 percent. But Election Day voting swung the race the other way, and Smith pulled out the victory by nearly 6 percent when all the ballots were tallied.
Incumbent Melissa Greene, meanwhile, cruised to an easy victory over challenger Trudy Ellis in the race for county council in District 2.
Jackson Township saw a change of guard as the trustee position went to challenger Dan Eberle in decisive fashion, and the board will have new faces, too, as residents continue to voice their discontent over last year’s tax hike — this time, at the ballot box.
Exit polling
Despite the weather, several polling locations around Morgan County saw a steady number of voters regardless, all eager to make their voices heard. Many voters who spoke with The Correspondent agreed that there was a sense of duty to come out and vote on Election Day.
“Everyone needs to do their part,” Monrovia resident David Weber said. “It’s important to voice your opinion.”
“It’s important to know what’s going on and to make your voice heard,” said Mooresville voter Autumn Sojka.
“I’m just doing the duty of citizens,” said one young man in Martinsville.
“It’s my duty to vote,” said Mike Patrick of Monrovia. “You can’t complain if you don’t vote.”
Most Morgan County voters agreed on one other thing, too — they don’t like the direction the country is taking, and they want change.
“Fear,” Steve Yoke, a Mooresville resident, said when asked what brought him out to vote. “Fear of where we’re headed. And where we are now is the result of too many people voting for feelings instead of voting for facts.”
Yoke said he was particularly concerned about the AI data center coming to Monroe Township, and he felt disappointed in the Republican candidates running for county commissioner.
“No candidate is standing firm against that,” Yoke said.
Mike Patrick, a Monrovia resident, said he was most interested in the state representative races, but like Yoke, he cited the data center as a major concern.
“There’s a lot of turmoil with our state, especially when it comes to data centers,” Patrick said.
“The data center,” Monrovia resident Susie McIlvaine said when asked about the issues most important to her. “The way that was done was not good.”
McIlvaine said she hoped everyone involved in Google’s data center project would get voted out of office, and in general expressed a desire to see more new faces in government.
David Weber, a Monrovia Democrat, said he came out to vote because he doesn’t like the administration in Washington, which he called “lawless.”
“I don’t like the direction the country is heading,” Weber said. “(Federal officials) don’t go by our Constitution anymore. How’s that any way for a country to run?”
Weber said he was disappointed that the local Democratic Party was not running more candidates in local races, and said the party needs to do a better job at getting people to put their name on ballots.
Other Democrats who spoke to The Correspondent agreed.
“Not a lot of Democrats,” one Mooresville woman said. “We need more Democrats around here.”
“This is a Republican town,” she added, “But I know a lot of Republicans who are flipping this year.”
Most voters The Correspondent polled cited state races and law enforcement positions — judge, prosecutor and sheriff — as the elections they cared most about. When it came to the issues, voters repeatedly cited the data center and budget cuts at local school districts as what they believed to be most pressing.
Mooresville resident Herb Wingate said he came out to vote because he always votes, but he was particularly excited to vote for Craig Haggard for U.S. Representative (District 4) because “he’s our hometown boy.”
Sojka said she came out to vote against Jim Baird in the same race, citing her disapproval of some of the provisions of the 2026 Farm Bill he voted for last month.
Monrovia resident Pat S. said she was excited to vote for Carrie Syczylo, a Democrat running for Indiana House District 60 and the co-owner of Farm House Brew in Monrovia.
“It’s hard not to be inspired by her when you listen to her speak,” Pat S. said.
Zoey Rather, a Mooresville resident who came to vote with her young child, said she really liked Darin Griesey, a Democrat running for U.S. Representative (District 4). Rather said the issues that mattered most to her were gun laws, healthcare and immigration.
“I’m very unsatisfied with the way things are going,” Rather said. “But that’s why we came out to vote.”
Mooresville resident Stephen Johnson said the judge and sheriff’s races were most important to him, and he put his support behind Jerry Smith over current Morgan County Superior Court Judge Dakota VanLeeuwen.
One Mooresville couple cited the county commissioner’s race as the most important, and they hoped to choose a commissioner who would stand up to Google. But they had their reservations.
“It’s really hard when all the (commissioner) candidates say they’re okay with NDAs,” they said, referring to the non-disclosure agreements many county officials signed before it was public knowledge that Google was the company behind the data center.
Some voters, though, weren’t that interested in local races at all, and cast their ballots based on partisan leanings instead.
“We need Democrats to take over everything,” Mooresville resident Erika Butler said. “The Republicans have screwed everything up.”
“I want what Trump wants,” said Mooresville resident George Brown. “I think you oughta be a citizen.”
Ultimately, the 2026 Primary Elections weren’t much different than most elections. Voters overwhelmingly said they weren’t happy with the status quo, and they were demanding change. Casting a ballot for change was their civic duty as Americans.
