Now that the Primary Election is over, what’s next?

Independent or minor party candidates must file a petition of nomination by June 30 for verification of petition signatures.

The deadline is July 5 for the Democratic or Republican party to choose a candidate to fill a vacancy on the general election ballot.

Any candidate may voluntarily withdraw from the general election ballot by July 15.

Nov. 8 is General Election Day.

The only two contested races at this time for local voters will be for U.S. Representative of District 6 and Shelby County Council District 3.

Incumbent Greg Pence handily defeated Republican challenger James Dean Alspach to secure his party’s nomination to be the District 6 representative.

Pence will face Democratic nominee Cynthia Wirth in the November election.

Locally, Republican incumbent Brett Haacker will face the challenge of Democratic nominee Michael Daniels for the District 3 seat on the Shelby County Council.

If Daniels wins, there will be two new faces on the council beginning in 2023.

Kyle Barlow (photo) defeated incumbent Ben Compton for the Republican nomination for the District 2 seat.

Barlow, a Shelby County farmer and strong vocal opponent of solar energy companies taking over prime farm land, captured 66% of the voting.

“The people have spoken and said what they wanted,” said Barlow to GIANT fm’s Johnny McCrory Tuesday following the announcement of the election results. “I think people do want some change in local government. How far that goes remains to be seen. I don’t think I am going to change the world here. I won’t come in and demand whatever, but it’s a victory and I am going to celebrate it.”

Barlow finished with 996 total votes (758 election day votes, 16 paper absentee votes, 222 walk-in absentee votes). Compton's 506 votes were broken down into 398 election day votes, 15 paper absentee votes and 93 walk-in absentee votes.

Shelby County Council Republican incumbents Leigh Langkabel (District 1) and Linda Sanders (District 4) will run unopposed in the November election.

The Shelby County Commissioners will have a new North District representative after Jason Abel, a Shelbyville firefighter, defeated incumbent Chris Ross for the Republican nomination.

Abel (main photo) collected 65% of the total votes.

“It’s been a learning experience for me,” said Abel of the process. “It’s been an opportunity to listen to a lot of folks and to meet a lot of folks.

“It’s been a chance to go to parts of the county and sit down and have a cup of coffee with the people and essentially learn what the issues are.”

Explosive growth in the northwestern part of the county, especially in terms of manufacturing, was a key issue in the election.

“I feel we have some tremendous opportunities and tonight (Tuesday) I think folks were saying let’s capitalize on those opportunities while respecting what makes our community what it is.”

Abel’s 3,107 votes broke down to 2,405 election day votes, 49 paper absentee votes and 653 walk-in absentee votes. Ross received 1,645 votes (1,257 election day, 61 mail-in, 327 walk-in).

City of Shelbyville attorney Jennifer Meltzer (photo) won the Republican nomination for the state representative in District 73, which includes portions of Bartholomew, Decatur, Jennings and Shelby counties.

Meltzer collected 57% of the overall votes to defeat Bob Carmony (33%) and Edward Comstock (11%). She received 48% of the Shelby County votes to Carmony’s 44%.

“It was a lot of hard work and I had a lot of support from multiple people in multiple counties,” said Meltzer. “I am super excited to be able to represent District 73.”

Meltzer has prior state government experience but knows there is still a learning curve ahead to becoming a state representative.

“I will need to sit down this summer and dig into the amendments so I know how I want the bill to look and being able to submit those to the legislative services agency,” she said. “And I think listening and learning will be step one in this entire process. I am excited to meet my colleagues and listen and learn from them.”

Cory Criswell captured 40% of the voting in the State Representative District 54 race. That district includes parts of Hancock, Henry, Rush and Shelby counties. He only received 17.6% of the Shelby County votes. Melissa Meltzer received 50.4% of the local votes.

Robb Greene, a Republican, will be the State Representative for District 47, which includes parts of Johnson and Shelby counties. Greene collected 48% of the votes (65.5% of the Shelby County votes).