MORGAN COUNTY — Some big leadership shakeups are coming to Morgan County following the 2026 primary elections last week.
While all winning primary candidates still have to win their general elections in November, most Morgan County Republican primary winners will likely face no opposition on their way to county office. The Democratic Party did not field any primary candidates in any countywide races.
Thus, the May 5 Republican primary elections are largely the deciding contests in who holds office in Morgan County. And in these deciding contests, 9,864 voters participated, accounting for 18.3 percent of registered voters, a 25.6 percent increase over the 2022 primary elections.
When the results came in, a new county commissioner, sheriff, prosecutor and judge were all but crowned.
Mike Kirsch, who was caucused into a commissioner position in March, was officially elected with 35.8 percent of the vote, beating three competitors.
Dan Downing will serve as Morgan County’s next sheriff, handily beating opponent Brent Worth by 18 points.
Cassie Mellady will, in all likelihood, be the next Morgan County prosecutor, replacing outgoing prosecutor Steve Sonnega after defeating challenger Joe Gaunt by more than 20 points.
And Jerry Smith will be the next judge of Superior Court 1, after upsetting incumbent Dakota VanLeeuwen by six points.
The Correspondent reached out to each of the new faces looking to lead the county to ask what voters can expect in the coming year when they assume office. Each of them expressed their eagerness to begin their work, and were thankful that voters gave them their trust.
Mike Kirsch
While he’d already been in the commissioner’s seat for more than two months following the caucus in early March, last week’s primary offered no guarantees that position would continue past December, and Mike Kirsch was nervous.
Then the results came in just after 8 p.m. Kirsch won the three-way race in the Republican primary, effectively guaranteeing him a four-year stint as commissioner.
“I was relieved,” Kirsch said by phone Friday, “because a lot of stuff I want to do I could not have done in eight months.”
Armed with the blessing of his wife, Kirsch decided to run for commissioner because he knew the next few years were going to be pivotal for Morgan County.
“I saw a place where I could use the experience I have developed from years being in business, years of being in planning and zoning,” Kirsch said.
“The next three years, four years, are going to be more different than any other point in the county’s history, just because of the things that are changing,” he added. “And in two years’ time, you’re going to have two brand new commissioners (both Don Adams and Bryan Collier have said they are not running for re-election).
“So this race was important to me, (knowing) whoever is elected is going to be the senior leader of the county.”
Kirsch pointed to the growth that’s already happening, whether in housing and industry developments or general population numbers.
Kirsch was an opponent of the county’s effort more than a decade ago of doing away with buffer zones, and he thinks the county should borrow the playbook of Boone County, which moved to area planning back in the ‘90s due to the “tsunami of growth” that was happening there.
“They did a really good job of adapting to the changes,” Kirsch said.
But to do it, local government entities big and small would need to be at the table — and work together.
He pointed to the data center as an example of why it’s important.
“If we would have had area planning, (Monrovia) most likely would have had two people on the plan commission that would have been inside Monrovia,” Kirsch said.
The first step to achieve the goal “would be to begin a planning study for the county,” which would include planning leaders from the county’s municipalities with plan commissions.
“So each municipality can look at it, and as a collective group, we can look at it and talk,” he said, “and we can all decide which is our best option to go.”
Kirsch pointed to the areas along the I-69 and I-70 corridors, and even Ind. 144.
“It’s growing, and it’s going to require a little bit more work to coordinate those areas,” he said.
He also sees work that needs to be done within county government, particularly in light of the financial squeeze that’s expected with Senate Enrolled Act 1 that was passed last year at the statehouse.
“There is plenty of room for efficiency,” Kirsch said.
He pointed to the work of Dr. Jake Allen at Mooresville Schools, who has created “efficiency through necessity” in the face of fiscal challenges.
And the county’s highway superintendent, Eddie Fisher, is also someone Kirsch lauded for taking over a county department and setting a new tone of productivity and efficiency.
“It was hard for him to change that culture, but he did,” Kirsch said.
“We’ve got some really good department heads that do a really great job at managing their departments … with a lot of efficiency to the best of their abilities with the resources they have,” he added.
But more work remains, as the county still has “a bunch of little things that keep the motor operating at 100-percent efficiency.”
Between the growth, the fiscal constraints and the associated challenges, Kirsch is already on the job and grateful for four more years added to his tenure.
“Not that I look forward to going through (the challenges),” he said, while thankful he’s now “part of a team that can help make a difference.”
Dan Downing
Downing credited his victory in the sheriff’s race to the rigorous work he and his campaign team conducted for more than two years.
“People liked our platform,” Downing said. “We got out and we listened, and we were able to build a lot of support.”
Downing currently serves as a captain at the Morgan County Sheriff’s Office, and he has worked in law enforcement since 1991. He will replace current sheriff Rich Myers beginning in 2027.
When that happens, Downing told The Correspondent, Morgan County can expect more community outreach and transparency. This will involve initiatives like seminars for the elderly to protect them from scammers, for example.
“We want to empower Morgan County to take care of themselves,” Downing said. “We can’t be everywhere.”
On Day 1 of his tenure, Downing said he intends to gather the entire staff and address expectations and issues facing the Morgan County community. Downing said the county’s biggest issue related to crime is drug addiction, and he said he intends to provide more resources to the county’s drug task force to curb the issue.
Above all, though, Downing says Morgan County residents can expect transparency from their new sheriff.
“I’m going to be an open-door, working sheriff,” Downing said. “If you come into the office and ask for me, you’re gonna get me. The people of Morgan County elected me, and it’s me they’re gonna get.”
Cassie Mellady
When it came to the county prosecutor race, Morgan County voters thought Mellady deserved a promotion.
All throughout the campaign, the current deputy prosecutor touted her 12 years of experience as a prosecutor specialized in putting violent offenders behind bars. She told The Correspondent that her qualifications gave her an edge over her competitor, defense attorney Joe Gaunt.
Also helpful, Mellady said, was the backing of many law enforcement officials, including current prosecutor Sonnega.
When she assumes the office next year, Mellady said she plans to be more transparent with the public and to have an increased presence on social media. Additionally, she’ll have at least one position she’ll need to fill right away: Her old deputy prosecutor role.
“Voters should know that I’m really dedicated to my job,” Mellady said. “And if people have questions about me, they should feel free to reach out.
“I want to see what we can do better,” Mellady added about her upcoming tenure as prosecutor. “And, of course, I want the community to be safe. I live here, too, and I plan on being here for a long time.”
Jerry Smith
Smith’s victory in the Superior Court 1 race came as a surprise to many after early voting results showed VanLeeuwen ahead by nine points. Smith includes himself in that many.
“When we saw early voting, I knew we had a lot of ground to make up,” Smith told The Correspondent. “I was pleasantly surprised when it flipped.”
Smith scored himself a rare victory over a sitting judge, and he said he was thankful to her for running a “good, clean race.”
VanLeeuwen’s spirits were predictably not as high, and she took to Facebook last week to express her disappointment, pointing to “a very small percentage of voters (who) chose to place Jerry Smith into office in 2027.”
“Qualifications and experience do not always prevail,” VanLeeuwen concluded.
Smith, meanwhile, joined the Republican Party in 2007 and currently works as the deputy attorney general in the Indiana Attorney General’s Office. He previously served as the deputy prosecutor for Morgan County.
When asked what he thought Morgan County voters could expect from him as a judge, Smith said he is “tough, but fair,” and “treats everyone like a human being.”
And when asked why he thought voters chose him, Smith listed a number of possibilities.
“I’m a conservative,” Smith began. “People know I’ll be a law-and-order judge. They know I’m a good businessman and a good attorney. I think people thought the combination of all those things would make for a good judge.”
Smith will begin overseeing Superior Court 1, starting in January 2027.
