>Owen Circuit Court Judge

David Gohn (D)
Lori Thatcher Quillen (D)

SPENCER, IN – The Owen County Democratic Party has announced that long time Washington Township Board member Lois West, who had served on the board through 2010, had recently been selected by a party caucus to be reappointed to that board. The position became vacant when Board Member Lloyd (Ed) Coleman passed away in November. By law, the party of an outgoing officeholder is charged with finding and appointing a replacement who will complete the remainder of the term through December 31, 2014.

Lois is a 1940 graduate of Spencer High School. She had previously served on the Washington Township Advisory Board for over 30 years. She currently serves on the Owen Valley Fire Territory Board and the Owen Valley Volunteer Firefighters’ Board of Directors. She had worked at Macy’s (formerly LS Ayres & Co.) for 12 years, and with Indiana University for 16 years. She and her husband Ballard reside in Spencer. They have a son, Larry, who is a 1972 Owen Valley High School graduate, and two grandsons.

Chairman Anton Karl Neff noted, “Township-level government is an important part of our local community. Recent talk of eliminating township government is alarming. In Owen County, it would be difficult to provide the same access to services, such as township assistance for folks in need, cemetery maintenance, and fire protection, at the same cost of all 13 township budgets combined. We are glad to have Lois back on our team to serve the public.” “We are also very appreciative of the years of service Ed Coleman had given to Washington Township and the community—he will be missed.”

Links have been posted on our website for three of our current Democratic candidates for US Congress in Indiana's 8th District, Dave Crooks, Patrick Scates, and Terry White.  Also, for US President, Barack Obama, and for US Senate, Joe Donnelly.  Check them out on our Web Links page.  As more state and local candidates announce their candidacies and active websites, we'll add them here so stay tuned!

SPENCER, IN—The Owen County Democratic Party has announced plans to conduct a Democratic Town Convention in conjunction with this year’s Gosport municipal election.  Each political party must conduct a town convention when more candidates than available positions for any one office have filed for the election.  Currently, there are five candidates who have filed as Democrats for the three at-large Gosport Town Board positions, current Town Board members Wes Correll and Rebecca (Becky) Welch, along with new candidates Machele Arnold, Kindra Holsapple, and Christopher (Chris) Wesley.

Any Democratic voter in the Town of Gosport can participate in this convention.  The convention will be held on Friday, August 19^th, at 7:00pm, located at the Gosport Community Building just north of the Gosport Elementary School.

Folks wishing to vote in the convention must check in prior to the 7:00pm start date and, in accordance with IC 3-8-5-11 concerning participation in the convention, each Democratic voter must affirm in writing, under penalties for perjury, that they are affiliated with the Democratic Party, that they had taken a Democratic ballot in the last primary election they had voted in, are a resident of the Town of Gosport, and that they are a registered voter in the Town of Gosport.

Once the convention is called to order, rules for the convention will be adopted and the candidates for which a vote will be taken will be given a limited opportunity to speak.  Following that, a vote by secret ballot will be taken to select the three Democratic nominees for the Gosport Town Board that will appear on the November ballot.

The convention will be chaired by Kextel Dunning.  If anyone has questions about the convention or the process, they may contact Dunning at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it   or 812-879-4366.