Joe Van Deventer has won the Republican nomination for the District 3 seat on the Monroe County Board of Commissioners.
On Tuesday, Van Deventer beat challenger Paul White, the only other Republican running for one of the commissioners' seats up for election this year.
"I feel like I'm qualified for the position," Van Deventer told WFIU/WTIU News. "I have been in this county for 58 years, and I feel like I have a good grasp on what the voters want and what we need to do."
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Van Deventer is the director of street operations for the City of Bloomington. In debates, he spoke about wanting better collaboration in local government and more progress on the project to build a new county jail.
"Something's gonna have to be done about the jail, whether they're going to move it outside the city or whether they're going to try to keep it in the city," he said. "I'd rather keep the jail centralized, if possible."
Commissioner District 3 covers the eastern portion of the county, which includes Benton, Clear Creek, Salt Creek, Washington and parts of Perry and Polk townships. Candidates must live in the district, but all voters in the county can vote for them.
Van Deventer will face Democrat Jody Madeira in the November general election.
