By Scott Tibbs, May 10, 2012
Primary Election Night 2012 was a sweet night, with Richard Mourdock defeating Richard Lugar and sending him into a long-overdue retirement. It was especially nice to see Scott Wells be defeated in his effort to return to the Monroe County Council. At the end of the night, two incumbents were re-nominated while Sophia Travis knocked Warren Henegar out of the race for county council. Henegar's term ends December 31.
County Council results, Democrats:
- Julie Thomas - 3,617
- Sophia Travis - 3,241
- Geoffrey McKim - 2,474
- Warren Henegar - 2,068
- Scott Wells - 2,053
- Jeff Carson - 1,493
County Council results, Republicans:
- Brian Ellison, 4,981
- Skip Daley, 4,549
- Jennifer Mickel 4,417
- Chris D. Kilander 3,425
The numbers are pretty striking when you compare the votes Republicans got in their primary to the votes the Democrats got in their primary. I hope this carries over into the general election, because we need to have more Republican representation on the council. If we can win one seat, the Democrats will have only a 4-3 majority, and two seats (which will probably not happen) will bring a Republican majority for the first time since 2004.
It was especially sweet that I won my contested races while Wells lost his, and I took his loss as an opportunity to gloat - irritating a number of Leftists. One particular joker on HeraldTimesOnline scribbled that "As it is his 2000+ votes were about three times the total of your votes in both races."
But that is not an apples-to-apples comparison. Wells was on the ballot for all of Monroe County, while I was only on the ballot in one of four districts for delegate. A real comparison would be how I did in my primary versus how Wells did in his, in the precincts where we were both on the ballot. That comparison, between my race for delegate to state convention and Wells' race for county council, is in the table below.
| Scott Tibbs | Scott Wells |
| Bloomington 1 | 1 | 5 |
| Bloomington 2 | 19 | 25 |
| Bloomington 6 | 10 | 48 |
| Bloomington 13 | 43 | 31 |
| Bloomington 14 | 22 | 15 |
| Bloomington 15 | 97 | 28 |
| Bloomington 17 | 62 | 29 |
| Bloomington 19 | 0 | 5 |
| Bloomington 20 | 4 | 6 |
| Bloomington 23 | 3 | 5 |
| Bloomington 24 | 9 | 8 |
| Perry 1 | 21 | 33 |
| Perry 2 | 41 | 12 |
| Perry 3 | 30 | 25 |
| Perry 4 | 61 | 28 |
| Perry 5 | 68 | 37 |
| Perry 6 | 16 | 37 |
| Perry 10 | 55 | 29 |
| Perry 27 | 77 | 19 |
| Perry 29 | 26 | 7 |
| TOTAL | 665 | 432 |
It is extremely gratifying that I have been endorsed by Republican primary voters while Wells has been rejected by Democratic primary voters - for the second time. After all, Wells was fired from his job on the Monroe County Council in 2004 after finishing fourth in the primary. Hopefully, this loss will end his political career.
