By VICKI URBANIK

Despite calls for changing, even overhauling, county government, Porter County Republicans tended to stick with the experienced and the seasoned in several races in Tuesday’s primary. Perhaps the best example of this came in the race for Porter County Treasurer.

Dale Brewer won the GOP nomination against Robert Wichlinski, with nearly 54 percent of the vote total to Wichlinski’s 46 percent. Brewer will now face Demcorat Michael Bucko, a current county council member, in the fall.

Brewer got 3,714 votes to Wichlinski’s 3,179. Bucko, meanwhile, got 24,244 in the heavily Democratic vote totals.

Both Brewer and Wichlinski are well known, especially among county Republicans: Brewer as a former two-term County Clerk and former executive deputy auditor and Wichlinski as the former Porter Township Trustee who is a frequent commentator in regional media. But the differences between the two were significant: While Brewer campaigned on her knowledge of county government, Wichlinski campaigned on a promise to abolish the treasurer’s office, a proposal in keeping with the recent push for government consolidation.

Speaking at Porter County Republican headquarters Tuesday night, Brewer said eliminating the treasurer’s office wouldn’t save money and that it would give the auditor even more work at a time when the auditor can’t keep up with workload it already has. She also questioned the type of salary that the auditor would command, if that office also was expected to handle the treasurer’s duties.

She said also said that while the calls for government consolidation may sound good on the surface, many voters like the checks and balances of having separate officer holders.

Brewer said in the end, she thinks her experience was the winning factor in her race, adding that inexperience now in county offices is contributing to the problems with late tax bills.

“Experience still does count for something,” she said.

Both Brewer and Bucko had kind words for each other, noting that they and their family members have known each for years. “We’ll have a good campaign,” Bucko said.

Posted 5/7/2008