By DAVE SCHULTZ
Two of the three individuals who were seeking to be delegates from Wells County to the Indiana Republican state convention were removed from the ballot Friday morning by the Wells County Election Board.
The candidacies of Mitch and Ashley Peterson, who were present at the hearing, and Sierra Thompson, who was not present, were challenged by Zach Rodgers, chairman of the Wells County Republican Party’s Central Committee. The Wells County Election Board — composed of Roy Johnson, the Republican Party’s representative; Larry Sell, the Democratic Party’s representative; and Beth Davis, the Wells County clerk — voted 3-0 to end the candidacies of Mitch Peterson and Thompson as neither has ever voted in a Republican primary. Ashley Thompson was allowed to remain on the ballot, also on a 3-0 vote, even though there is some question as to whether she had voted in the 2020 primary. Ashley Peterson said she did but Davis, whose responsibilities as clerk includes election oversight, said she did not.
Nevertheless, Davis voted to allow Ashley Peterson to remain on the ballot due to a technicality. The Indiana Republican Party’s rules for state candidates say that they had to vote in a primary, not two primaries. Elsewhere in Republican Party rules, the statement is two primaries. Because of that, Davis said, she voted in favor of keeping Ashley Peterson on the ballot.
Rodgers spoke first, making the case that the three candidates were not qualified to be on the ballot as potential candidates to the state convention.
Rodgers said the challenges were not based on any animosity on his part — in fact, he said, “his heart breaks” at what he was doing. Nevertheless, he said, “I do feel that it is important to defend the party that I have been elected to lead.
“I have absolutely nothing against the three individuals I have filed challenges to,” he said.
Rodgers did, however, call out the candidates for their comments about him on social media. At one point, he said, “I have never been made into a meme before, but I guess there’s a first time for everything.”
“I am completely disheartened by some of the actions by the challenged candidates,” he said, adding: “This is absolutely why people hate politics.”
Rodgers concluded his remarks with a forceful declaration: “They are not eligible to run based on the requirements to serve in this role.”
Ashley Peterson spoke next, saying she was mystified by the challenge and turned the challenge around on Rodgers. She said a Republican candidate for Wells County Council — she said after the hearing that she was talking about Brandon Harnish — does not qualify for a position on the ballot because she said he had not abided by the two-primary rule.
“Why was this individual not also challenged?” Ashley Peterson asked. “If the two-primary rule applies, why doesn’t it apply to everyone? I do place the blame on you, Mr. Rodgers. That is an abuse of power, Mr. Rodgers.”
The question of whether Ashley Peterson voted in the primary was a case of “she said, she said.” Peterson said she signed the poll book at the Wells County Community Center at the 4-H Park; Davis said her name was not on the poll book.
Mitch Peterson followed his wife to the table. “Zach Rodgers doesn’t know me, but I know me,” he said, following that with, “I’ll admit, I have never voted in a primary.”
He still thought he deserved to be on the ballot, saying he is “an American looking to serve Americans.”
Although the matter before the Election Board concerned an intraparty matter, there were some in the audience who believe there were reasons to oppose the rules for the hearing.
“The party doesn’t trump the constitution,” one individual said, even though it was a public hearing and only those who were sworn in were supposed to speak during the proceedings. “There is nothing in the constitution of the state of Indiana that says a person must vote in two primaries.”
Johnson, the election board’s president, was present virtually for the meeting as he is on vacation. He said the issue before the board was a very narrow one — “their lack of a sufficient voting history.”
When it came time to vote, all three board members denied Rodgers’ challenge to Ashley Peterson’s candidacy but upheld his challenges to Mitch Peterson’s and Thompson’s candidacies.
daves@news-banner.com
