Tag: Paul White

Randy Cassady to run for District 2 Monroe County commissioner as Republican

Randy Cassady gives remarks at the Monroe County courthouse (June 25, 2024).
Randy Cassady files his paperwork to be a Republican Party candidate for District 2 Monroe County commissioner. Deputy clerk Larime Wilson is checking his submission (June 25, 2024).

Randy Cassady announced on Tuesday that he will appear on the Nov. 5 general election ballot as a Republican candidate for District 2 Monroe County commissioner.

Cassady, owner of the local electrical company that bears his family’s name, will be competing for the seat with incumbent Democrat Julie Thomas, who is seeking her fourth term as a county commissioner.

Cassady currently serves as a member of Bloomington’s redevelopment commission as well as Monroe County’s redevelopment commission.

Thomas won her party’s primary by a three-point margin over Peter Iversen, who currently serves on the 7-member county council.

Even though the three county commissioner seats are numbered based on a geographic area of the county, all registered voters countywide can cast a ballot for all three county commissioner seats.

Reached by The B Square, Thomas texted: “We will see him on the campaign trail!” Continue reading “Randy Cassady to run for District 2 Monroe County commissioner as Republican” →

What candidates said in 3 minutes to make their best pitch to Monroe County voters

On Monday evening, several candidates for local and regional office made an appearance at a networking event hosted by the Greater Bloomington Chamber of Commerce (GBCC) at The Mill, a co-working space north of city hall.

Each candidate got a chance to deliver a quick three-minute stump speech.

This B Square roundup is limited to candidates in contested, partisan races where both candidates appeared.

That leaves out school board races, which are non-partisan.

But one takeaway from Monday’s event was the position taken by school board candidates on the Monroe County Community School Corporation ballot referendum. Each of the three MCCSC school board candidates who attended Monday’s event expressed strong support for the levy increase that appears on the ballot. The three who spoke were: Daniel O’Neill (District 3); Ashley Pirani (District 3); and Erin Wyatt (District 1).

If it’s passed, the referendum would set the school referendum levy rate at $0.185 for eight years, which would increase the average residential taxes paid to the schools by about 35 percent, according to the ballot question wording. The ballot language says the additional money will support the retention and attraction of teachers and staff and enhance programs in STEM, the arts, and special education.

The last day to register to vote in the Nov. 8 election is Oct. 11.  Early voting for the Nov. 8 election starts on Oct. 12.

In Monroe County, early voting will take place at the election operations building at 3rd and Walnut streets.

The GBCC has set up a website with a roundup of information on candidates.  An additional resource for information about candidates is the The League of Women Voters Vote411 website. Continue reading “What candidates said in 3 minutes to make their best pitch to Monroe County voters” →

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” →