Tag: Dominic Thompson

Analysis: Vignettes from candidate forums for county commissioner hopefuls Githens, Madeira, Volan

Both races for Monroe County commissioner are contested this year. In one race, incumbent Democrat Julie Thomas is competing with Peter Iversen for the party’s nomination. Iversen currently serves on the county council.

In the other race, incumbent Democrat Penny Githens is competing for the nomination with Jody Madeira, an Indiana University law professor, and Steve Volan, who lost his re-election bid to the Bloomington city council last year.

For the seat where the Democrats have a three-way primary, the Republicans also have a contested race. Vying for the GOP nomination are Paul White, Sr. and Joe VanDeventer. Continue reading “Analysis: Vignettes from candidate forums for county commissioner hopefuls Githens, Madeira, Volan” →

Local officials sworn in, Bloomington mayor Kerry Thomson says, “It’s time to get moving.”

Judge Valeri Haughton administers the the oath of office to Bloomington city clerk Nicole Bolden. (Jan. 1, 2024)
Bloomington city clerk Nicole Bolden administers the oath to Ellettsville clerk treasurer, Noelle Conyer. (Jan. 1, 2024)
Bloomington city clerk Nicole Bolden administers the oath to Bloomington mayor Kerry Thomson. (Jan. 1, 2024)

Starting a few minutes after noon on New Year’s Day in Bloomington’s city hall, the mayor, city clerk, city councilmembers, and the Ellettsville clerk treasurer were sworn into office to start four-year terms.

The chambers were packed, including the upper level, leaving some to stand in the lobby.

First to be sworn in was Bloomington city clerk Nicole Bolden. Administering the oath was Monroe County circuit court judge Valeri Haughton, who is Bolden’s mother.

That set up Bolden to administer the oaths of office for some of the other officials.

Bookending the proceedings was the swearing in of Ellettsville clerk treasurer Noelle Conyer.

When Conyer’s turn was reached on the program, Bolden said, “I think it is easy for us in Bloomington to forget that we in Monroe County host several communities, and so it is my distinct honor and pleasure to next administer the oath for my colleague and counterpart in Ellettsville.”

Before the ceremony started, Bloomington mayor Kerry Thomson delivered remarks lasting about seven minutes. Continue reading “Local officials sworn in, Bloomington mayor Kerry Thomson says, “It’s time to get moving.”” →

2022 Democratic Party primary election notebook: Breakdown of results by precinct for recorder, county commissioner

The precinct-by-precinct numbers for Tuesday’s primary elections are now available on Monroe County’s website.

Numbers are still unofficial.

For county offices, Democrats saw four contested races on the ballot. The race for the nomination for circuit court judge was a four-way contest, won by Emily Salzmann. The race for the nomination for sheriff was a five-way contest, won by Ruben Marté.

The B Square took a closer precinct-by-precinct look at the other two races, which were two-way affairs. The race for recorder was close, almost a dead heat. The county commissioner’s race was not as close—about a 3:2 margin for the winner.

What both races showed was a detectable, even if not dramatic difference between inside and outside the city limits of Bloomington. In both races there was about a four-point difference in results inside and outside Bloomington. Continue reading “2022 Democratic Party primary election notebook: Breakdown of results by precinct for recorder, county commissioner” →

Monroe County campaign finance: 4 races, 17 candidates, $115K

Primary Election Day is May 3.

One limited measure of how much support candidates have among voters is the amount and range of financial contributions to their campaigns so far.

text is "pre-primary campaign finance filings" overlaid on top of a bag with a dollar sign on it

For the 2022 election season in the state of Indiana, pre-primary campaign finance forms were due at noon last Monday, April 18. Those forms are supposed to cover donations and expenditures for the period between Jan. 1, 2022 and April 8, 2022.

The B Square took a look at some of the early campaign finance filings by candidates in four Monroe County races— county commissioner; sheriff; circuit court judge; and recorder.

Those are races that have contested primaries this year for the Democratic Party.

The winner of those races will face a Republican Party candidate in the fall. None of the four races are contested in the Republican Party’s primary. The B Square has included Republican candidates in this roundup, which is compiled in a shared Google Sheet, with links to individual filings.

[Shared Goog Sheet 2020 pre-primary]

The 17 candidates in the four races have raised a combined total of around $115,000.

Counting money raised last year, six candidates for sheriff have raised a combined total of $58,000. The five candidates for judge have raised a combined total of around $28,000. The three candidates for county commissioner have raised a combined total of around $22,300. And the three candidates for county recorder have raised a combined total of around $7,000. Continue reading “Monroe County campaign finance: 4 races, 17 candidates, $115K” →

Early in-person voting kicks off for Monroe County

Looking north with the election operations building on the left and the new parking garage in the background.
The hand of Monroe County clerk Nicole Browne, after she voted. She’s running unopposed for re-election.

The trademark blue former NAPA building at 3rd and Walnut streets, just south of the new parking garage and west of the downtown transit center, is the new home to Monroe County’s voting operations.

Tuesday was the first day of in-person early voting for the May 3 primary elections.

At 8 o’clock sharp, Monroe County clerk Nicole Browne emerged from the front door to perform the ritual that marked the start of the voting day.

Browne raised her voice to the overcast sky: “Hear ye, hear ye, the polls are now open!”

In the first half hour of voting, only a handful of voters cast a ballot. By then, light rain was falling on the few candidates and volunteers who had come to canvas the early voters.

By around 4 p.m., the count of early voters had reached just 58. For the general election in 2020, Monroe County averaged more than 1,000 early in-person voters a day. It’s not surprising that  interest in the primary elections, between presidential election years, is comparatively lower.

Browne told The B Square earlier in the morning that she’d heard from other county clerks in the state that the number of requested absentee ballots was down compared to 2020. Continue reading “Early in-person voting kicks off for Monroe County” →

Monroe County Democrats choose human rights lawyer Shruti Rana as vice chair

At a caucus held by Zoom video conference on Sunday, the Monroe County Democratic Party chose Shruti Rana as its vice chair.

The image of Shruti Rana is a B Square file photo from El Mercado on Elm Street in summer of 2021. She addressed the gathering on the topic of voting rights.

Rana is assistant dean at Indiana University’s Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Studies. As a legal scholar, she focuses on international and human rights law.

Her local government service includes the current chairship of the county’s election board and membership on the city of Bloomington’s five-member board of public safety.

The vacancy in the vice chair position for the county party arose when Jennifer Crossley resigned as chair, because she was selected at a caucus in mid-December 2021 as the replacement on the seven-member county council for Eric Spoonmore. Spoonmore resigned from the county council when he took the top job at the Greater Bloomington Chamber of Commerce.

At a caucus a couple of weeks ago, the Democrats chose David Henry as county chair to replace Crossley. But Henry had been vice chair, which left a vacancy in that spot.

On Sunday, Rana’s selection as vice chair was uncontested. The caucus was conducted on a Zoom video conference. Continue reading “Monroe County Democrats choose human rights lawyer Shruti Rana as vice chair” →