Incumbent Democrat
Laura Blaney defended her seat on the Board of Commissioners by a narrow
margin yesterday: she took 50.14% of the vote to challenger Fred Martin’s
49.86%
“I appreciate the
opportunity and look forward to serving the people of Porter County for
another four years. There is much to still accomplish,” Blaney said in an
email to the Tribune this morning.
“In case people
feel their votes don’t matter, I think my race is a clear indication that
every single vote counts,” she added.
Martin told the
Tribune in a phone call that he thinks he ran a clean race and thanked
Blaney for doing the same. “I think we did better than most people expected
us to, especially for my first time running and against an incumbent,”
Martin said of his campaign.
Martin also wished
Blaney well and thanked his supporters.
Porter County Clerk
Jessica Bailey announced the final unofficial election results as of 4:10
a.m. and reported that all votes had been counted--including a staggering
50,000 some early and absentee by mail votes. The Board of Elections &
Registration will count provisional ballots and certify the results of the
election on Nov. 13, ten days after election day, as usual.