Cassady halts campaign for District 2 Monroe County commissioner citing 6-month residency requirement
Randy Cassady has suspended his campaign for the District 2 Monroe County commissioner seat.
According to Cassady, the opinion of the Indiana Election Division (IED) is that he does not meet the six-month residency requirement for candidates. And Cassady has accepted that opinion.
After seeking the IED’s opinion before he declared his candidacy, Cassady revisited the question with the IED after Monroe County Democratic Party chair David Henry filed a challenge to Cassady’s candidacy, Cassady has indicated.
It was about a month ago, on June 25, when Cassady announced his run as the Republican nominee against incumbent Democrat Julie Thomas.
Some additional steps will need to be taken, in order to take Cassady’s name off the ballot. That’s because the deadline for voluntarily withdrawing from the ballot passed a couple of weeks ago.
A vote by the election board about taking Cassady’s name off the ballot could be taken at a special meeting next Thursday, Aug. 8. That’s about a week before the ballot needs to be finalized for creating drafts for public viewing, before the ballot is sent to the printer.
Cassay made his announcement by telling members of the Monroe County election board in person at their regular monthly meeting on Thursday. Cassady said: “I was recently advised that my candidate filing for District 2 Monroe County Commissioner narrowly missed the six month residency requirement, resulting in my ineligibility to run.”
Cassady continued: “I accept that determination and am therefore suspending my campaign, effective immediately.”
Cassady added, “I love this community and I will continue as an active resident to help chart a path forward for our county that puts common sense and the best interests of residents first.”
The state law in question is IC 3-8-1-21, which states a candidate for county commissioner must be a resident of their district at least six months before the general election.
Cassady’s announcement came two days after Monroe County Democratic Party chair David Henry filed a challenge to Cassady’s candidacy, based on his residency.
In a statement about Cassady’s decision, Henry wrote to The B Square: “I thank Mr. Cassady for stepping aside this cycle. Randy is a sincere and charitable person in our community.”
Henry added, “Mistakes happen. Election law, as we know, is specific and unforgiving because election integrity matters.”
Henry’s statement wraps up like this: “I look forward to working with Mr. Cassady in his various other capacities in our community in the years to come.”
Cassady serves on the Monroe County redevelopment commission, the city of Bloomington redevelopment commission. He is also the owner of the well-known local electrical contracting company that bears his family name.
Incumbent Democrat Julie Thomas, who was being challenged by Cassady, responded to a B Square request for comment: “I would just say that following rules and regulations is something all residents have to do. As elected officials, we have to do likewise in order to serve our residents well.”
On Thursday afternoon, Monroe County Republican Party chair William Ellis issued a news release that called it a “tough decision” for Cassaday, both to enter and exit the race. Ellis’s news release adds, “We look forward to backing any future endeavors he may undertake with the Republican party, aiming for a brighter future in Monroe County.
Ellis’s new release describes Cassady’s decision to exit the race “an effort to avoid unnecessary adjudication” and says that by doing so, “Cassady acted in the best interest of Monroe County voters.”
A written statement from Cassady’s attorney, Allison Weber, about the idea of contesting the challenge says, “[Cassady] does not wish to tie up any county or state resources into the matter.”
Election board president John Fernandez, who is the Democratic Party’s appointee, told Cassady at Thursday’s meeting, “Well, thank you Mr. Cassidy for your approach. I appreciate it.”
Rounding out the three-member election board are Monroe County’s elected clerk, Democrat Nicole Browne, and Judith Benckart, the Republican Party’s appointee.
Weber’s letter to the election board chronicles Cassady’s efforts to confirm that he did meet the residency requirement before declaring his candidacy: “Upon receiving confirmation from the Indiana Election Division that he did indeed meet the residency requirement, Mr. Cassady submitted his Declaration of Candidacy in June.”
Weber’s letter continues: “After Mr. Henry’s challenge on July 30, Mr. Cassady again sought the opinion of the Indiana Election Division. This time, counsel from the Indiana Election Division
informed Mr. Cassady that he did not meet the residency requirement.”
Weber’s letter describes a misunderstanding about the definition of “six months”—but does not elaborate.
Just flipping through calendar pages, counting a page as month, working backwards from Nov. 5 this year would put the start of the required residency on May 5. Henry’s complaint, contends that Cassady’s change of voter registration, from a non-District 2 address to a District 2 address, was completed on May 7, which would make him two days shy of the required six months of residency—if residency is equated with voter registration.
If “six months” is analyzed as half the number of days in a year (182.5) and days are counted backward from Nov. 5, it looks like there could be room to attempt an argument that May 7 could have been soon enough to start residency.
Even though county commissioners are elected by all registered voters across the county, candidates have to have proper residency in their geographic district. District 2 coincides geographically with Bloomington Township.
Assuming that the election board is able to take action next week to remove Cassady’s name from the ballot, it will be the third time in as many years that a local area candidate has disappeared from the ballot over residency questions.
In 2022, Myra Kinser was disqualified as a Republican primary candidate for the District 62 state house seat, based on residency. In 2023, amid questions about his residency, Democrat David Wolfe Bender wound up resigning as the party’s nominee to represent District 6 on the Bloomington city council.
