Former county commissioner James Biggs hopped right back into the arena of county politics as Republican primary election voters elected him as the challenger to County Council 1st District incumbent Democrat Bob Poparad in November’s general elections. Biggs triumphed over opponent Kevin Tracy with 57 percent of the vote – the final vote being 1,151 to 861, roughly a 15 percent margin, with 32 precincts reporting.

Biggs dominated the vote throughout the Duneland area. He won in Westchester Twp. with a total of 584 votes total for the 18 Westchester precincts. Tracy received 420 votes in Westchester Twp., winning four of the precincts. Biggs also proved the winner in Jackson Twp. with a 176 total in the three precincts with Tracy trailing with 126. Tracy was again unable to pass Biggs in Liberty Twp.’s four precincts where Biggs won 135 to 103.

Even though Biggs won the overall battle, Tracy did have a small victory in Pine Twp. where he won both precincts with an overall outcome of 80 votes for Tracy and 67 votes for Biggs. After the election results surfaced, Tracy said he thinks the voters in Pine Twp. responded to his stance against the use of eminent domain. He said that was a message throughout his campaign that received overwhelmingly positive response.

The race also overflowed into four additional precincts in Center Twp. in which Biggs was the victor.

Tracy said he has not yet given thought to running again in a future county race, but said he would definitely consider other possibilities if the Republican party beckons him again to run for an office. He said his immediate goal is to back other Republican candidates in the November elections.

“We have a really great team of Republicans going on the ballot and I am looking forward to supporting them as much as possible,” said Tracy.

Tracy said he will support Biggs and respected the positive way he ran his campaign although the two never met face-to-face. Tracy said he would phone Biggs after the election to congratulate him on his victory.

As for the future of the county council, Tracy said he hopes they will be able to find ways to cut the county’s budget and seek ways to make county government more efficient for taxpayers. He believes getting more Republicans on the council is the best way to make government work better for the people.

Biggs said he would not be surprised to find Tracy in another election, indicating he felt Tracy had strong numbers for a newcomer. Biggs said he was not much older than Tracy when he beat out Republican William Carmichael for the county commissioners spot in the 1992 primary elections. He said age does not have to be factor in races and felt Tracy had merit from having served in the military.

“I took (Tracy) seriously from day one,” Biggs said.

Tracy said he faced an uphill battle going against a former county commissioner, but felt the numbers were “something to be proud of.”

Like Tracy, Biggs said he also is interested in working with Porter County Republicans to capture a few seats in the general election. He said the management of a general election is different from a primary election in that it all comes down to who has “the better message.”

Biggs, who served on the Northwest Indiana Commuter Transportation District board, said winning an election to him is “very humbling” and is looking forward to the opportunity to represent his constituents.

“As an elected official, you have to work hard to get people to believe in you,” he said.

Earlier in the campaign, Biggs said he wants the council to take a more professional leadership approach on issues with less internal bickering. Biggs recently has spoken in support of the council’s decision to appeal the Jasper County judge’s ruling that says the county cannot leave the Northwest Indiana Regional Development Authority, feeling the state legislators overstepped their bounds by forcing the county into the development agency without giving the public a proper chance for input. He wished the council would have held more public meetings before voting to raise the County Economic Development Income Tax in 2005. Biggs has however supported the idea of regional cooperation and has seen the benefits of it working in planning and management for public transportation issues in Northwest Indiana.

Biggs has also criticized Poparad for his promise of no new taxes only to vote in favor of raising the CEDIT tax to fund the county’s membership in the RDA.

Poparad said he is anticipating a “spirited” campaign in the fall and is looking forward to debating the legitimate issues of the campaign.

In other election news, Portage Twp. Board member Jeremy Rivas surpassed incumbent Rita Stevenson overwhelmingly in the District 2 race. Rivas more than doubled Stevenson’s numbers – 1,791 to 869 for a final count.

Stevenson is one of the council members who have taken a stance against the RDA while Rivas has promoted the idea of regional efforts to create new jobs.

No Republican filed for candidacy in the County Council District 2 primary race. The party has until June 30 to select Rivas’ opponent for the general election.

Posted 5/5/2010