Election board allows Schaetzle to stay on ballot, drops two others

SOUTH BEND — Lawyers volleyed arguments at each other and even questioned Election Clerk Kim Riskovich about her filing conduct as the St. Joseph County Election Board voted Wednesday, Feb. 25 to remove two candidates from the primary election ballot but allowed a third challenged candidate to remain.

The board voted to allow St. Joseph County Council member Dan Schaetzle to remain on the ballot despite two individuals challenging his candidacy. County Council member Amy Drake will not be allowed to run for state convention delegate, and Tim Lindewald was removed from the Walkerton Town Council race.

St. Joseph County Republican Party Chair Jackie Horvath challenged Republican Tim Lindewald’s filing for Walkerton Town Council. The last two primary elections Lindewald voted in, he voted in the Democratic primary. The last two Indiana primary elections he voted in were 2002 and 2003.

Indiana law says a candidate must have voted within the party they are running for in the last two Indiana Primary elections they voted in, or run with the permission of the party chair. This does not mean the candidate had to vote in two primary elections consecutively.




https://www.southbendtribune.com/story/news/politics/2026/02/25/election-board-keeps-schaetzle-on-ballot-drops-drake-and-lindewald/88869358007/