Bartholomew County Republicans sweep local races

Bartholomew County voters broke records with today’s election, casting more than 33,196 ballots cast — a new record for presidential elections.

With all of the Bartholomew County voting machines and early votes tallied, Bartholomew County Republicans have won by large margins across the board.

At the top of the ticket, the Donald Trump/Mike Pence team pulled 63 percent to the Clinton/Kaine 30 percent. For governor, Bartholomew County is giving Republican Eric Holcomb 59 percent and Democrat John Gregg 37 percent.

In the Statehouse District 59 race, incumbent Republican Representative Milo Smith is leading former Bartholomew senior center director Bob Pitman, 61-39 in Bartholomew County.

Bartholomew County Commissioner District 3, incumbent Republican Rick Flohr defeated Democrat Brad Woodcock 65-35. Republican coroner candidate and Columbus police officer Clayton Nolting is winning the race for coroner 63-37 over Paula Rothrock.

The three Republican candidates for Bartholomew County Council won with Bill Lentz the vote leader with 22 percent of the vote. First-time candidate Matt Miller also won with 20 percent of the vote and Evelyn Strietelmeier Pence will return to the council, winning 19 percent of the vote in the seven-way race.

The closest race of the night was the Bartholomew Consolidated School board race between incumbent Polly Verbanic and James Persinger, which Persinger has won 55-45. Incumbents Jeff Caldwell and Pat Bryant held onto their seats, staving off challenges from Dennis White and Tim Woods, respectively.

Unofficial vote totals for Bartholomew County