There were some exciting moments in Porter County political filings this week, a quick rundown and some predictions. There is no doubt that the predictions will create an uproar, sure that's why we write and why Steve asked me to post more regularly this year. He told me I can write whatever I want provided no foul language, and that he reserves the right to disagree big time in the comments.
At the top of the county ticket in 2012 will be the County Commissioner's race. For those that have wondered why the entire county votes even though the Commissioners are in districts, contact your state legislator as this is a goofy system. But, we all vote for Commissioners even if they are supposedly representing in this cycle the north and the south.
In the North we'll have the excitement of a primary battle between incumbent and long time Commissioner John Evans versus former Commissioner and current county councilman Jim Biggs both Republicans. We have yet to hear a name for the Democrat side, but current conservative leanings in the county will give the primary winner the general election win even if the Democrats try to field a candidate. The Democrat party is in a disarray after losing the Portage Mayor's race in 2011 and after a dismal election cycle in 2010 in County Executive offices. I will go on a limb and predict John Evans retains this seat and thus Jim Biggs will stay on the Council with an eye to the 2013 council presidency. The shot against John Evans is that when he finally got the role of county leader, he sat on the sidelines and let secretaries and attorneys run the county this year. Watch for Evans to step up and provide more leadership or Biggs will actually have a shot at him.
In the South the big surprise was current County Councilman Laura Blaney (D) filing for County Commissioner's race instead of the the rumored filing of Dan Whitten. She will easily win her primary and then face off against the winner of Jim Polarek (R) versus Mike Heinold (R). Heinold will feature the support of the Valparaiso business community and Polarek bring to the table strong grass roots south county support. Remember though that the entire county votes, not just south county. Blaney's family owned Kelsey's Steakhouse until recently and is well known. Watch for Heinold and Blaney to face off in November and a Laura Blaney win, mainly based on the fact that Porter County voters really don't want one party to control the entire political realm.
For those keeping track at home this puts my prediction for the Board of Commissions going into 2013 at 2 Republicans (Adams, Evans) and 1 Democrat (Blaney). The same balance as we have now, but with a much stronger south county commissioner and Evans needing to show some leadership.
County Treasurer Mike Bucko will win easily, even if the Republicans decide to nominate someone for a name recognition run. The current grouping of executive offices (Recorder, Assessor, Auditor, and Treasurer) are doing a marvelous job, now the challenge will be trying to move to the next level with a council that has dragged their feet all too often. Watch for games, with Biggs and Polarek trying to position for the primary, and Whitten still not showing any Council Presidency leadership.
Rumors have abounded for years that Rich Hudson (R) will make a run for County Surveyor against current incumbent Kevin Breitzke (D). If Rich does file, even though very few people pay attention to this race, watch for an upset win by Hudson. The Surveyor could be considered a partner in the long term EGov and GIS projects foreseen by Auditor Wichlinski, but probably not the current Surveyor.
Now to the County Council, where all three at-large seats up for election this year are held by Democrats. Laura Blaney won't be running since she's announced for Commissioner. That leaves Dan Whitten and Sylvia Graham. Neither have been all that strong and ran into trouble with the unions during their RDA witchhunt in 2010. There may be more filings of course, so this is a fluid situation, but for now it would be best to predict former councilman Bob Poporad, a long time business conservative Democrat, will win one of the at-large seats, Porter Township Trustee Ed Morales (R) will pick up another, and I'll have to go with unsure for the third until we have all the names. With previous predictions suggesting Polarek and Biggs will lose in their primaries for Commissioner, they will remain on the Council and watch for Biggs to pick up Council Presidency in a new Republican dominated council.
After three consecutive cycle of dismal results for Democrats, one additional prediction that the Democrats will be forced to reorganize and pick a new chairman, but so will the Republicans as Joyce Webster has been oddly quiet since her trustee loss and Republicans too would prefer a new chairman. Wild predictions then, but look for Michael Essany on the Democrat side and Mike Simpson on the Republican side as the new chairs.
Will check back in later this week on that third at-large seat, as there are some rumors for additional Republicans to file. Yes, there are some other down ballot races too, so I'll fill in the blanks and start looking at legislative and statewide races although these aren't my personal specialty and more the likes of Oz and other writers here. Happy debating, more soon!
