Hamilton County Democratic Party fields more than 30 candidates for fall election

Hamilton County Democrats are lining up to run for office this year, a stark contrast to many past election years.

Since the primary, the party—which undoubtedly is still the minority in the Republican-heavy northern suburbs—has filled ballot vacancies for four county offices: sheriff, commissioner, clerk and coroner.

Democrats have also found a candidate for Delaware Township Trustee, bringing the total number of local Democrats running for state and county seats to 34, easily the most Democratic candidates that have run in Hamilton County in years.

This week marked the deadline for Republicans and Democrats to fill vacancies on the ballot and independent and minor-party candidates to file to run in November’s general election.

Forty-two contested state and local races are on the ballot this year, including more than a dozen township races.

Historically, only a handful of Democrats have filed to run. In 2014, for example, only nine Democratic candidates ran for office.

Here are the Democrats, and their Republicans opponents, who will be on the ballot this fall:

State Senate
District 21: Christina Fivecoate (D), James Buck (R) 
District 29: J.D. Ford (D), Mike Delph (R)
District 31: Derek Camp (D), James Merritt (R)

State Representative
District 24: Naomi Bechtold (D), Donna Schaibley (R)
District 29: Tracy Roberts (D), Chuck Goodrich (R)
District 32: Amie Neiling (D), Tony Cook (R)
District 37: Aimee Rivera Cole (D), Todd Huston (R)
District 39: Mark Hinton (D), Jerry Torr (R)
District 88: Poonam Gill (D), Brian Bosma (R)

Hamilton County Clerk of Courts
Cathy Sutton (D), Kathy Richardson (R)

Hamilton County Coroner
Karin Maloney Anderson (D), John Chalfin (R) 

Hamilton County Sheriff
Jason Straw (D), Dennis Quakenbush (R)

Hamilton County Commissioner
District 1: Rosemary Dunkle (D), Christine Altman (R) 

Hamilton County Council
District 1: Jeremy Eltz (D), Fred Glynn (R) 
District 3: Jeremy Hawk (D), Steve Schwartz (R)
District 4: William Howard II (D), Ken Alexander (R) 

Clay Township
Trustee: David Russ (D), Douglas Callahan (R)
Board:
Kevin Patterson (D) 
Michael Sweeten (D) 
Erin Vahrenkamp (D) 
Mary Eckard (R) 
Paul Hensel (R) 
Matthew Snyder (R) 

Delaware Township
Trustee: Dan Greenhalgh (D), Debbie Driskell (R) 
Board:
Dayna Colbert (D) 
Mary Ray (D) 
Bianca Zaklikowski (D) 
David Giffel (R) 
Ed Pierce (R)
Marilyn Schenkel (R) 

Fall Creek Township
Board:
Rachna Greulach (D) 
Jason Meyer (R) 
Brian Baehl (R) 
Greg Dewald (R) 

Jackson Township
Board:
Janet Scearce (D) 
Nicole Duncan (D) 
Jerry Cook (R) 
Liz Foley Nelson (R) 
Jeff Roberts (R) 

Noblesville Township
Trustee: Heather Rolinski (D), Tom Kenley (R)
Board:
Jill Crehan (D) 
Paula Jo Gilliam (D)
Marie DeMore (D)
Joe Arrowood (R) 
John Daivs (R)
Peggy Pfister (R)

Washington Township
Board:
Shelly Brown (D)
Erica Strahm (R) 
Danyele Easterhaus (R) 
David Gill (R) 

Wayne Township
Board:
Brandy Bast (D) 
Robert Brent Hiday (R) 
Laura McNamara (R) 
Stacy Mahan (R) 

Atlanta Town Council at-large
Lea Tolley (D) 
Murray Dixon II (R)
Pam Vanhook (R)