Published: May 08, 2008 02:16 pm            

Democrat hopes to challenge for at-large seat

Zionsville Community High School teacher David Rodgers topped the GOP race for the at-large Boone County Council seat in Tuesday’s primary.

Now, Rodgers will face Democrat Jeff Odom in November.

Odom, the lone Democrat on the primary election ballot for Boone County Council at-large drew 5,978 votes, although he was not opposed.

He’ll face two Republican incumbents and Rodgers for the three at-large seats in the November general election. Rodgers, who lives in Jamestown, topped the GOP at-large race with 3,365 votes. Incumbent Marcia Wilhoite received 3,372 and incumbent Debby Shubert 3,044 to move on to the November general election. Eric Hand trailed with 2,715 votes.

“We’ve got our work cut out for us,” Odom said after the unofficial vote totals were posted early Tuesday evening at the Boone County Clerk’s Office.

“The residents of Boone County are ready for a change,” Odom said.

The trend began with the absentee votes and continued through the one hour, 36 minutes it took to tabulate all the ballots.

Wilhoite had been concerned that the Democratic presidential primary between Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama would siphon away traditional Republican voters.

Democratic Party Chairman Jim Whelan thought Odom’s total showed Democrats were interested in more than the presidential race.

Republican Party Chairman Tom Easterday expected Rodgers would run a strong campaign.

“He’s well known in Jamestown,” Easterday said. “A lot of people in Lebanon are familiar with David.”

Shubert and Wilhoite benefited from being incumbents, Easterday said. “They are well know, with good name recognition,” he said. “Eric, being the new candidate with less name recognition, I knew it would be a difficult fight for him.”

        

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