Monroe County voters in south-central Indiana will weigh in on township, school board, county, state and federal races on Tuesday, November 3, 2026, and on two kinds of ballot questions that require a separate vote even for voters who choose a straight-party ticket. Polls will open at 6 a.m. and close at 6 p.m. on Election Day, and early voting continued through noon on Monday, November 2, at Election Central in the Monroe County Government Center, 501 North Morton Street, Suite 101, Bloomington. This preview is written before Election Day, and it will expire as a guide to voting logistics after November 3, when results, not previews, will be the relevant information. Voters who need their specific polling place, or a sample ballot for their address, should use the Indiana Voter Portal or Vote411, because Monroe County ballots vary by township and school district, and not every voter will see every race described here.
Interest in the election is significant, according to Monroe County’s chief deputy clerk, Tanner Branham, who cited both the national political climate and interesting races at the state level and local matters, such as the question about a potentially unified government for Ellettsville and Richland Township. Monroe County Election Supervisor Kylie Farris said mail-in voting was slightly ahead of the 2022 pace, and that the office was fielding most questions about the Ellettsville and Richland Township reorganisation, a sign that the local question, not only the federal races, is driving voter curiosity. That pattern is common in midterm elections: national races dominate headlines, but local ballot questions, which change how a town and township are governed and taxed, can be the items voters most want to understand, and the items they are least likely to have heard explained in national coverage.
The ballot includes federal, state and local races, including contests for United States Congress, secretary of state, county offices, school board seats and judicial positions. At the state level, the secretary of state race includes candidates Beau Bayh, a Democrat, Max Engling, a Republican, Lauri Shillings, a Libertarian, and Greg Ballard, of the Lincoln Party, according to the Greater Bloomington Chamber of Commerce election guide. In the United States House District 9 race, which includes parts of Monroe County, Brad Meyer, the Democratic nominee, challenges Congresswoman Erin Houchin. In the Indiana House District 62 race, incumbent Dave Hall, a Republican, faces Amy Oliver, a Democrat. Those races are covered in more detail in statewide voter guides, and this preview focuses on the local offices and questions that are specific to Monroe County, where a voter’s choice has the most direct effect on county services, property assessments and school governance.
Monroe County local races: clerk, assessor and school board
Two county offices are contested. For county clerk, Tree Martin Lucas, a Democrat, faces Julie M. Hays, a Republican. The clerk’s office administers elections, maintains county records and handles a range of administrative functions, and in a year when election administration itself is a topic of public debate, the clerk’s race carries visibility that county administrative races do not always have. For county assessor, Judy Sharp, the Democratic incumbent, who is listed in some guides as Judith A. Sharp, faces Jene’ Trimble, an independent, listed in some guides as Jeneé Trimble. The assessor determines the value of property in the county for tax purposes and maintains property assessment records, but does not set tax rates or issue tax bills, a distinction that matters for voters who associate assessment with taxation. In Indiana, county assessors are elected to four-year terms and must hold the state’s Level III assessor-appraiser certification, which is a professional qualification, not merely a political credential.
School board races are contested in the Richland-Bean Blossom Community School Corporation, which serves the Ellettsville and Richland Township area. For the Richland Township seat, Dennis Adams, an independent, faces Kelly Scholl, an independent. For the Bean Blossom Township seat, only Christa Curtis will be on the printed ballot, and she will face a declared write-in candidate, Jeremiah O’Neal, who is the only declared write-in candidate for local Monroe County races. School board members oversee the school district, set district policy, adopt the budget, hire and evaluate the superintendent, and approve curriculum, and under a 2025 state law, 2026 is the first year in which some school board election rules have changed, a detail that voters should check in the Indiana University Political and Civic Engagement guide if they want the current rules for their district. The Monroe County Community School Corporation seats, by contrast, are not contested on the printed ballot in this cycle, a reminder that not every school board in the county is on the ballot in the same way.
Township races are also contested in several townships, and they matter because townships in Indiana provide specific local services, including poor relief, fire protection in some cases, and cemetery maintenance, depending on the township. For Clear Creek Township Trustee, Susan Luther, a Democrat, faces Steven Hinds, a Republican, listed in some guides as Steve Hinds. For Indian Creek Township Trustee, Susan Hingle, a Democrat, who uses Gus as a nickname, faces Christopher Reynolds, a Republican. Washington and Clear Creek townships also have contested races for their township boards. Other local races without competition on the printed ballot include sheriff, prosecutor, recorder, county commissioner, county council, circuit court judge and Monroe County Community School Corporation school board, the Bean Blossom Township seat for the Richland-Bean Blossom board in its printed-ballot form, and trustees for Bean Blossom, Benton, Bloomington, Perry, Polk, Richland, Salt Creek, Van Buren and Washington townships, although a write-in candidacy can still create a contest where the printed ballot does not. Voters should therefore check their sample ballot, rather than assuming that an uncontested printed race means no choice at all.
Ellettsville Richland unified government question explained
The most consequential local question is the Ellettsville-Richland Township reorganisation proposal, which voters in Ellettsville and Richland Township will answer separately from any party ticket. The ballot wording is: “Richland Township of Monroe County, Indiana and the Town of Ellettsville of Monroe County, Indiana have each adopted a Plan of Reorganization that provides for the consolidation of Richland Township into the Town of Ellettsville as a single governmental unit that will be governed and administered as a town with a seven (7) member elected Town Council. Shall Richland Township and the Town of Ellettsville reorganize as a single political subdivision?” A yes vote supports creating a reorganised government covering the town and township, which would provide township services be governed by a seven-member town council, including five district seats and two at-large seats. A no vote leaves the current separate town and township governments in place. Voters who choose a straight-party ticket should note that doing so does not automatically vote on this question, or on the constitutional amendments described below; those questions must be answered separately by marking yes or no.
Supporters of the merger, including William Ellis, an Ellettsville resident who operates an Amazon fulfilment business and serves as the Ward 2 member on the Ellettsville Town Council, argue that the biggest benefit is control over the community’s own future. Ellis points to good schools, Ivy Tech and a major university nearby, but says too many graduates leave to find good jobs, and that one local government gives employers and residents one clear answer about who governs the area. He also argues that the proposal protects the fire department, which Ellettsville and Richland Township have shared for nearly 80 years, by keeping it under a council elected by the people it serves, whereas if voters say no, the town has approved a fire territory for 2027 as a backstop, which protects local control for now, though less strongly in his view. Supporters also argue that the council structure, with seven members including two at-large seats filled by the top two vote getters in the Richland Township board election and chosen by voters across the whole township, and a first municipal election in 2027 decided by voters across the whole new town, ensures that every member answers to Ellettsville and rural residents alike, not to a single district alone.
Opponents, including Anna Bednarski, an Ellettsville resident employed at Indiana University but speaking in her own capacity and holding no political office, argue that residents would lose a distinct township government and its direct representation, and that the merger’s tax consequences deserve closer scrutiny. Bednarski notes that even merger proponents are clear that property taxes are going to increase whether annexation happens or not, and she argues that the town government can enact other tax increases, including wheel taxes, which are taxes on vehicles, and that voters should weigh whether a larger town government, with broader taxing powers, is the right vehicle for the area’s future. The tax argument is not a simple claim that a yes vote raises taxes by a fixed amount and a no vote does not; both sides acknowledge that costs, including fire protection and other services, are rising, and the dispute is about which governmental structure will manage those costs more accountably, and with what taxing tools. Voters who want a precise tax estimate for their own property should look to the reorganisation plan’s fiscal analysis, rather than relying on campaign summaries alone.
Indiana constitutional amendments on the Monroe County ballot
All Monroe County voters will also weigh in on whether to amend the Indiana Constitution regarding residency requirements for city and town court judges, and whether to allow bail to be denied to defendants in some cases. Those are statewide constitutional questions, not Monroe County questions, and they appear on every Indiana ballot in this election, but they are included here because Monroe County voters, like all Indiana voters, must answer them separately from a straight-party vote. Constitutional amendments in Indiana require approval by voters in a general election, and their wording on the ballot is often more technical than the campaign summaries that describe them, so voters who are unsure should read the full ballot question in their sample ballot and, if needed, consult the Indiana Capital Chronicle voter guide or the League of Women Voters Vote411 guide, both of which explain statewide races and questions in plain language.
The practical advice for Monroe County voters is straightforward, and it is time-sensitive. Early voting at Election Central, 501 North Morton Street, Suite 101, ran weekdays through October 31 from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., on the last two Saturdays in October from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., and on Monday, November 2, from 8 a.m. to noon. On Election Day, Tuesday, November 3, voters can vote from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. at their polling place, which may differ from Election Central. Voters should bring the identification required by Indiana law, check their polling place in advance, and remember that straight-party voting does not answer the Ellettsville-Richland question or the constitutional amendments. After November 3, this preview’s logistics will be out of date, and the relevant information will be the certified results, including whether Ellettsville and Richland Township have chosen to become a single political subdivision, and who will serve as clerk, assessor, school board member and township trustee for the next term.
Sources
Sources: USN reviewed reporting from multiple outlets for this story. Read more from The Herald-Times (https://www.heraldtimesonline.com/story/news/2026/11/02/indiana-election-day-2026-what-voters-need-to-know-tuesday/92519140007/), The Herald-Times (https://www.heraldtimesonline.com/story/news/politics/elections/2026/10/28/pros-cons-of-ellettsville-richland-township-merger-proposal-shared/92386284007/) and Greater Bloomington Chamber of Commerce (https://www.chamberbloomington.org/2026-election-candidates.html).