Porter County to certify Nov. 3 election Friday, with unofficial turnout at 44.7%

Porter County's Election Board meets at noon Friday, Nov. 13, at the Expo Center in Valparaiso to certify the Nov. 3 general election, the board's agenda shows, and until then the county's posted results remain unofficial.

The unofficial results on the county's results site show 59,951 ballots cast among 134,092 registered voters, a turnout of 44.7% by PC360's math, with all precincts reporting. The county last updated the results at 4:07 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 10. Election Day and absentee ballots are marked fully reported, while the provisional ballot count is marked not reported, so the totals below could still change before certification.

What happens Friday

The Expo Center is at 215 E. Division Road, and the agenda posted by the clerk's elections office lists the certification of the 2026 election, a recap of the election, upcoming dates and public comment. After the certification, the meeting moves to the Commissioners Chambers at 155 Indiana Ave. in Valparaiso. The elections office can be reached at 219-465-3463.

Contested county offices

These are the unofficial county totals as published, with the races and candidates in the order the county lists them. Percentages are PC360's math from the two candidates' votes.

• Judge of the Superior Court IV: Republican Christopher A. Buckley 24,631 (42.2%), Democrat Heather A. McCarthy 33,781 (57.8%)
• Prosecuting attorney: Republican Andrew L. Bennett 26,651 (45.3%), Democrat Gary S. Germann 32,157 (54.7%)
• Clerk of the Circuit Court: Republican Jackie Haney 27,119 (46.3%), Democrat Barbara Domer 31,461 (53.7%)
• County recorder: Republican Jon Miller 27,416 (46.9%), Democrat Leslie Nuss Bamesberger 31,070 (53.1%)
• County coroner: Republican Brian Bowles 26,907 (45.9%), Democrat Julie Wiencken-Smith 31,686 (54.1%)
• County assessor: Republican Sue Neff 27,468 (46.8%), Democrat Scott J. Kingan 31,268 (53.2%)
• County commissioner, District 2 (Center): Republican Mike Brickner 27,290 (46.5%), Democrat Kyle S. Nelson 31,401 (53.5%)
• County Council, District 2: Republican Spencer Lemmons 3,966 (36.2%), Democrat Brian M. Gulley 6,984 (63.8%)
• County Council, District 3: Republican Dawn Miller 6,471 (40.7%), Democrat Jack Tipold 9,434 (59.3%)
• County Council, District 4: Republican Craig Kenworthy 8,374 (57.1%), Democrat Julia Kocal 6,297 (42.9%)

Unopposed

Five county races had one candidate on the ballot, all Republicans, according to the county results:

• Judge of the Circuit Court, 67th District: Rebecca Lynn Buitendorp, 36,167 votes
• Judge of the Superior Court I: Mike Fish, 35,951
• County auditor: Karen Martin, 35,489
• Sheriff: Jeffrey A. Balon, 36,562
• County Council, District 1: Ronald (Red) Stone, 10,323

School referendums

Voters in two school corporations answered referendum questions, according to the county totals. In Porter Township School Corp., 2,109 voted yes and 1,560 voted no. In Union Township School Corp., 2,335 voted yes and 1,419 voted no. The county also lists 401 yes and 380 no votes cast in Porter County on a Michigan City Area Schools referendum, and those figures cover only the Porter County share of that vote.

Straight-ticket and congressional votes

Of the 31,417 straight-party votes recorded in the county, 14,453 went to Republicans, 16,838 to Democrats, 96 to Libertarians and 30 to the Lincoln Party. In the 1st Congressional District race, Porter County's totals show Republican Barb Regnitz with 25,510 votes, Democrat Frank J. Mrvan with 33,681 and 96 write-in votes, figures that cover only the county's part of the district.

PC360 will report the certified totals after Friday's meeting.