(Southeastern IN) – The 2026 Primary Election is in the books, and it’s now on to the General Election in November.
Three incumbent Decatur County Council members were defeated in Republican races.
Bryan Messer topped Danny Peters in District 2; Andrew David Brunni knocked off Deana Burkart in District 3, and in District 4, it was Larry Heger over Ashley Emsweller-Hungate.
Heger will face Democrat Kevin Gay in November. Gay ran unopposed on Tuesday .
In Ripley County races – all on the GOP side – incumbent Superior Court Judge Jeff Sharp won the primary over challenger Shane Tucker; Ric Hertel beat Frank Arkenberg in the Prosecutor’s race, and first-time candidate Bryan Franklin defeated incumbent District 2 County Council member Stan Wiedeman.
Franklin County Republican races saw incumbent Prosecutor Chris Huerkamp advance to November after he was by Vincent Kregar; Adam Henson beat Chris Maxie to be the nominee for Sheriff; Austin Jolliff won a three-way primary for Auditor; Bob Evans held off three others in the County Commissioner District 2 race, and Larry Wiwi topped John Palmer for the nomination to be District 1 County Commissioner.
The Franklin County Council nominees on the GOP side are Joe Sizemore in District 1; Dean McQueen in District 2, and Jerry Ruben Hunt in District 4.
Irv Vonderheide received the Republican nomination for Brookville Township Trustee.
And voters in Oldenburg approved a ballot question to increase the number of town council members from three to five.
One of the highest profile races among Dearborn County Republicans was for Sheriff, with current Chief Deputy Carl Pieczonka edging Jason Wyatt; Jeff Cotton received the nod for County Commissioner in District 3 over Kevin Turner; and the nominees in the county council races are Joe Bonomini in District 1; Tom Palmer in District 2 – he’ll face Democrat Dan Lansing this fall; Doug Baker in District 3 – he’ll take on Democrat Amanda Thompson; and Randy Lutz in District 4.
Lansing and Thompson were both unopposed.
Among locally contested Statehouse races on the Republican side, all three incumbents easily fought off challengers. Jennifer Meltzer won the GOP primary in House District 73 over Edward Comstock II; Randy Maxwell defeated Joe Volk in Senate District 43, and it was Jeff Raatz over Anthony Lee Jones in Senate District 27…
In the Ninth Congressional District, it will be Brad Meyer against Republican incumbent Erin Houchin this fall. Meyer won the Democratic nomination over three other candidates.
