GOP primary race ahead for Vigo commissioner

Jan. 17—Republican incumbent District 2 Vigo County Commissioner Chris Switzer will face a challenger in the May primary, 21-year-old Indiana State University political science student Anthony Rubinacci.

"I think it's awesome to see engagement at such a young age, especially in an executive-style position, like we've just seen with Mayor [Brandon] Sakbun," Switzer said in an interview Thursday. "So kudos to him for being willing to put his name on a ballot and run for this office."

"I find it really encouraging that new young people are willing to step up and bring a change to Vigo County," Rubinacci said on Thursday. "It's time for a change in Vigo County and it's time for someone new to step up and be there to bring new visions to Vigo County in ways that haven't been done."

Rubinacci credited his grandfather with fostering his interest in politics.

"When I was little, my grandfather had me involved in politics by going to the polls and helping candidates," he said. "One of my best friend's mom always referred to me as the 'town mayor' because I loved talking. Just seeing how my grandfather always wanted change and new leadership kind of influenced me to follow suit."

In the past, Rubinacci served as former state Sen. Jon Ford's campaign manager. He's currently a board member for Vigo County Voter Registration.

"I've done a lot of door-knocking for past candidates' campaigns, probably knocked on 5-6,000 doors," he said. "So I'm familiar with the process."

Rubinacci said that he was motivated to challenge Switzer after seeing how the county commissioners handled the demolition of the Markle Mill dam.

"It was claimed that there were other possibilities, and made people believe there was another way they could restructure the dam, and then try to hold these town halls but they weren't really town halls to hear what people had to say," he said. "They had already made a decision."

Rubinacci added, "I think we need to be more transparent as much as possible. You're elected to represent the people and people expect an answer. You're supposed to be telling the truth and not how you see it as a single person."

Switzer countered that he and fellow commissioners Mike Morris and Mark Clinkenbeard always strive for transparency.

"Our door is always open, emails are flying 24/7, and to this day I get 30 to 40 Facebook messages a day and try to respond as much as I can," he said.

"Accessibility has always been important to us and we try to do as much as we can to answer as many questions as we can."

The candidates had different ideas of Vigo County's most pressing issue.

"We've got to continue to understand the mental health and substance issue in Vigo County," Switzer said. "Instead of getting sentenced to the Department of Corrections, you go to Community Corrections, you meet with a psychiatrist or doctor, they diagnose you, they get you insured, they get you medicated for whatever issues you might be having and they get you into the workforce. And that's been extremely successful.

"How do we improve on that?" he continued. "Is it just hiring more people to get people through the system quicker? I think our number one goal this year is to figure that out. ... When you have people in the community who have a six or eight month waiting period for a psychiatrist, that's not good. Our state leaders need to help us in some capacity to alleviate those wait times."

Rubinacci said, "We need to keep our taxes low and use our resources efficiently. I want to improve our public services and infrastructure to help our economy and community grow together."

Switzer said he's most proud of "getting everybody rowing in the same direction, and this was [former mayor] Duke Bennett and Sakbun's continuing it now. You've always seen this silo mentality in Vigo County and it's pretty well gone. Collectively, everyone has come together."

Rubinacci said he agreed on the importance of parties working with each other.

"It's all about collaboration," he said. "We've got to work together despite there being partisan politics. Everybody with different ideas has to come together at some point."

Switzer found himself on the outs with the county's Republican party leadership when he called for the resignation of Vigo County GOP Chairman Randy Gentry in December of 2022, saying, "Gentry has embarrassed the county party by continuously targeting solid Republicans in favor of weak candidates that he can control."

"It was disheartening to basically go to the court of Republicans and testify against my party chairman," he said. "Obviously, we don't have much of a relationship right now, but that's just the way that politics is, and I've reached out him several times and tried to make amends there, but I just don't know what's going to happen there."

He added, "If I don't win [re-election], I will go find some (other) way to have an impact on this community."

Vigo County commissioners must live in the district in which they run, but all county voters of a given party may vote in a primary commissioners race, and all county voters may vote in the general election, or fall, commissioners' races.

Indiana voters will go to the polls this spring for the Primary Election on May 7.

David Kronke can be reached at 812-231-4232 or at david.kronke@tribstar.com.