TERRE HAUTE — Two longtime political veterans are squaring off for one of the three powerful Vigo County Commissioners’ posts.
Democrat Paul Mason, 60, who has served 10 years as the 3rd District County Commissioner, is defending his seat against longtime Republican Vigo County Councilman Brad Anderson.
At present, Democrats control all three county commissioner seats, two of which are on November’s general election ballot. The 3rd District seat, however, is the only contested race.
Mason, who served as Terre Haute fire chief under former Mayor P. Pete Chalos, said overcrowding in the Vigo County jail is one of the top issues facing the county. The jail has a capacity of 268 but more than 300 prisoners often are housed there, he said. “This is a huge, tremendous cost,” he said.
Mason favors hiring a county employee to work with the courts to keep the jail population under control, he said.
Anderson, 56, a 13-year member of the County Council and former Vigo County Republican Party chairman, said controlling county government costs in the wake of state-mandated budget cuts is a top concern for the county. The County Courthouse renovation is $5.5 million over budget at present, he noted.
Both Mason and Anderson oppose proposals to do away with some county elected offices, including County Commissioners. Both argue that replacing elected commissioners with an appointed county manager would reduce government accountability to voters.
When asked what change he would like to see in the next four years, Mason said he questions whether building a bigger jail was really the best solution for some of the county’s problems.
“Maybe building a jail wasn’t the right answer,” Mason said. “Maybe the right answer would have been trying to put your money toward helping people before they got to jail,” he said, adding that the money might have been better spent trying to help people overcome drug or alcohol problems.
Anderson said he’d like to make a positive change toward creating jobs in Vigo County.
“The economics of job creation has got to be one of the number one things,” he said. As a commissioner, he would work closely with the Terre Haute Economic Development Corp., the Chamber of Commerce and existing and prospective businesses, he said.
Mason’s philosophy of government is not to micro-manage county departments, he said. Commissioners have their own duties and should only get involved in another official’s department when things get out of hand, he said. He also said he returns all phone calls and tries to help anyone who comes to his office.
Anderson said he believes in smaller government, less spending and balancing budgets.
So far, Mason and Anderson say their race has been clean and that they plan to keep it that way.
“I have nothing against Mr. Anderson,” Mason said. “As a councilperson and a commissioner, we all try to work together,” he said.
“I always feel you’re not running against somebody. You’re running for a position,” Anderson said.
Arthur Foulkes can be reached at (812) 231-4232 or arthur.foulkes@tribstar.com.
Candidate bios
Paul Mason
Age: 60
Education: 1966 graduate of Garfield High School in Terre Haute.
Experience: Vietnam veteran who served in the Army from 1968 to 1970. Joined Terre Haute Fire Department in 1971. Served as a firefighter, acting lieutenant, captain, battalion chief and fire chief under Mayor P. Pete Chalos. Vigo County recorder from 1996-98. Named to finish the term of Vigo County Commissioner P. Jim Diehl in 1998. First elected commissioner in 2000.
Family: Married to wife Connie for 40 years. Two children and four grandchildren.
Brad Anderson
Age: 56
Education: Graduated from Wiley High School in 1970. Attended Indiana State University.
Experience: Licensed Realtor for 20 years. Owner of Anderson Sound Co. for 27 years. Owner of Anderson Properties for 23 years. Owner of Life of Riley Grill for seven years. Served as Honey Creek Township assessor for four years and Vigo County Republican Party chairman for 1½ years.
Family: Married to wife Kara for 23 years. They have four children.
Election 2008
October 6, 2008
Election '08: Vigo County Commissioner District 3
- Election 2008
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Vigo County election results
More than 44,000 ballots were cast Tuesday of the nearly 80,000 registered voters, giving Vigo County a 55.76 percent voter turnout. Voters who cast provisional ballots have until noon Nov. 14 to show proper identification in the clerk’s office. Members of the Election Board will certify the results by the end of Nov. 14.
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Obama triumphs, will be first black U.S. president
Barack Obama swept to victory as the nation’s first black president Tuesday night in an electoral college landslide that overcame racial barriers as old as America itself. “Change has come,” he told a huge throng of jubilant supporters.
- Ellsworth downs Goode in District 8 In a strong Democratic election year, U.S. Rep. Brad Ellsworth was re-elected Tuesday to a second term as the 8th District congressman representing southwestern and western Indiana.
- House District 44: Former Greencastle major wins A former Greencastle mayor will head off to the Statehouse come January, and she said Tuesday night she’s ready to go.
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YOUTH VOTE: Sarah Scott students elect Obama, Daniels
Tribune-Star
Students and staff at Sarah Scott Middle School voted to make Barack Obama president and Mitch Daniels governor during a mock election Tuesday. - Vigo picks presidential winner again Vigo County voters chose Democrat Sen. Barack Obama as president, maintaining its status as a “bellwether” county, picking the winner in every presidential election since 1892 with only two exceptions.
- Harrison Township opts to keep assessor Voters in eight precincts in Harrison Township opted to retain a township assessor under a referendum vote on Tuesday’s election ballot. That’s was good news to Mick Love, who will retain his elected seat as Harrison Township assessor. The final tally on Public Question No. 1 was 6,587 for a “yes,” which would remove the office, to 9,506 for “no” which would retain the office.
- House District 46: Tincher pulls out win The race between Democrat incumbent Rep. Vern Tincher and Republican challenger Bob Heaton for the Indiana House District 46 seat went down to the wire Tuesday night, with Tincher pulling out a win.
- Republican Daniels wins 2nd term as Indiana governor Republican Mitch Daniels defeated former Democratic congresswoman Jill Long Thompson on Tuesday to win a second term as governor, but he may need a supply of olive branches to advance his agenda if Democrats retain control of the Indiana House.
- House District 45: Borders wins close race The Indiana House District 45 race between incumbent Republican Bruce Borders and Democrat Rick Marshall was too close to call for much of the evening Tuesday, with the final outcome apparent near midnight.
- House District 43: Kersey remains in seat Rep. Clyde Kersey, D-Terre Haute, will remain in the Indiana General Assembly for another two years, as the 12-year incumbent defeated Republican challenger Ryan Cummins for the House District 43 seat.
- Clay County's turnout one for record books Clay County’s voter turnout was one for the record books, officials said Tuesday evening.
- Parke County incumbents retain their seats Parke County incumbents retained their seats in Tuesday’s election. Republican County At-large Councilmen Dale Gerrish and John Pratt will be joined by fellow Republican J.B. Butler, a newcomer who received more votes than Gerrish and Pratt. The three GOP candidates won over the three Democrats in that race.
- Nearly 64 percent of registered Vermillion voters cast ballots Vermillion County voters turned out in big numbers Tuesday to hand victories to Democrats up and down the ballot. Nearly 64 percent of registered voters turned out in the mostly rural county, which includes the towns of Clinton and Newport.
- Sullivan County votes Repbulican in national election For the second time in its traditionally Democratic history, Sullivan County voted Republican in the national election. Overall, Democrats saw unexpected upsets, incumbent Republicans lost a few offices, and voter turnout here was exceptionally high, as expected.
- Indiana State students await impact of their votes Ashley Roce sat in the Cunningham Memorial Library eating pizza with her friends, waiting to see the impact of her first vote in a presidential election.
- Indiana transplants watch from east coast Indiana has done what couldn’t have been predicted in 2004: It has gone Blue — and by so doing, the Hoosier state has broken its 44-year tradition of being a Red state, and helped put a Democrat in the White House.
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Voter turnout in Clark County, Ill., highest it's ever been
Voter turnout in Clark County, Ill., was the largest it has ever been, but it wasn’t as high as County Clerk Bill Downey had hoped for.
- Presidential election turnout down in Edgar County Despite an increase in registered voters for Tuesday’s election, turnout was lower than the last presidential election in Edgar County, Ill.
- Incumbents easily win school board seats Three Vigo County School Board incumbents readily won re-election Tuesday. In District 1, Mel Burks and Jackie Lower retained their seats, defeating Larry Faulkner. In unofficial results, Lower had 24,321 votes, Burks, 19,253, and Faulkner, 11,383.
- Democratic Commissioner Mason gets another four years Vigo County voters on Tuesday returned Democratic Commissioner Paul Mason for an additional four-year term as one of the county’s top executive officials.
- Rader wins Vigo judge Superior Court Divisioin 5 The winner of Vigo County judge for Superior Court Division 5 is Dr. Michael Rader. With 23,636 votes, or 56 percent, Rader defeated Republican challenger Dan Kelly, who earned 18,216 votes, or 44 percent. Totals are unofficial results from the Vigo County Election office.
- Allsup defeats Royer in Vigo Recorder race In a night that was friendly to Democrats, Nancy Allsup won the office of Vigo County Recorder, defeating Republican Bruce Royer. Allsup, with 26,486 votes, or 65 percent, celebrated her victory Tuesday night with friends and family at the Paradise Pavilion in West Terre Haute.
- Mansard wins another term as Vigo County clerk Democrat Patricia “Pat” Mansard has won another term as Vigo County clerk. Mansard, who has served as county clerk for 20 years, was busily working Tuesday night to finish up election results, but she took a minute to savor her win.
- FINAL: VIGO COUNTY ELECTION 2008 RESULTS Final election night results from Vigo County
- FINAL: VERMILLION COUNTY ELECTION RESULTS 2008 Election results from Vermillion County
- FINAL: CLAY COUNTY ELECTION 2008 RESULTS Election results from across Clay County
- FINAL: PARKE COUNTY ELECTION 2008 RESULTS Election results from Parke County
- FINAL: SULLIVAN COUNTY ELECTION RESULTS 2008 Results from Sullivan County
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NEW: Vigo County’s election record cited by Karl Rove
Karl Rove, the man credited with orchestrating President George W. Bush’s two successful campaigns for the presidency, reportedly singled out Vigo County as a place to watch tonight when election returns start coming in.
- More Election 2008 Headlines
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Absolute Lin-sanity
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