GOP wins every office in Howard County, once again

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It has long been a truism that the only path to elected office in Howard County government runs through the Republican party. It has been 18 years since a Democrat not named Lynn Murray has faced a contested, county-wide election and found success.

That fact was reaffirmed on Tuesday night, as the Republicans effortlessly waltzed back into office -- every office -- that was up for grabs in the 2024 election season. In fact, the only drama taking place over the course of the evening came from the Howard County Clerk's office, which inexplicably encountered "technical difficulties" which delayed the counting of some ballots for hours.

The night wasn't just another string of victories for the GOP. It also featured a voter turn-out of 62 percent; a vast improvement from the pathetic 17 percent of voters who cast ballots in primary election last May. But it likely wasn't local issues that pushed people to the polls this time. The presidential race did a masterful job of sucking the oxygen out of most other contests on the ballot.

One item on the local ballot, however, may have spurred people to the polls. Kokomo School Corporation had asked for a referendum on a property tax increase to help fund teacher and staff recruitment and retention as well as technology infrastructure. The electorate had no tolerance for a tax increase, as 60 percent of voters denied the school its request.

What is certain from the results, locally, is that no other issue moved the needle one way or the other. In fact, there is little evidence that any individual officeholder or candidate said or did anything over the past year -- or four years -- that mattered to voters. From the top of the ticket to the bottom, the 2:1 margin of victory remained essentially the same.

Doubt that? You shouldn't. There were 38,218 total ballots cast in Howard County last night. Of those, 18,164 were straight-ticket votes. Given the uniformity of the results, it isn't difficult to imagine those numbers actually being higher in terms of electorate polarization. But there were a pair of contested school board races on the ballot which are non-partisan, forcing some voters to mark individual boxes rather than a one-and-done approach.

Straight-ticket voters didn't get to chime in on the school board races, but there was a clear indication that party politics had its influence. The candidates that were presumed to be more conservative prevailed by large margins.

For the Kokomo School Board, Alexandra Daniels Durham found success against incumbent Karen Sosbe in the 3rd District, taking 60 percent of the 12,325 votes cast in the race. And out in Honey Creek Township, Greg Stephens turned back Mikki Jeffers for a seat on the Western School Corp. Board, also taking 60 percent of the vote.

These two races had the closest outcomes on the ballot. Routinely, Republicans took 66 percent of the vote up and down the ticket. There were three exceptions to this rule.

• Indiana State Rep. Heath Van Natter (District 38) overperformed the ticket by taking 74 percent of the vote in western Howard County. And he actually performed slightly better outside of his home county, finishing with 75 percent of the total votes in his race.
• Howard County Treasurer Christie Branch secured 69 percent of the vote in her countywide contest.
• The third aberration to the results came in the race for Indiana governor, where Mike Braun won with 60 percent of the vote.

That is what unpopularity looks like within the Republican Party today, at least in Howard County.

In what must come as a relief for many these days, there are no elections in Howard County in 2025. Everyone gets a breather before the rhetoric and advertisements resume in 2026. Now, it is time for the Republicans to govern once again.