Allen County Commissioner, District 3

What this office does

In 91 of Indiana's 92 counties, a three-member board of commissioners is the county executive and conducts the county's business in the board's name ^{[1, 2]}. Commissioners administer county government affairs that state law does not assign to a separately elected officer, while the county council, a separate elected body, controls budgets, tax rates and salaries ^{[2, 3, 4]}. Marion County is the exception: under the consolidated Indianapolis–Marion County government (Unigov), the mayor holds most executive power, and the elected county assessor, auditor and treasurer serve as the county commissioners, with duties that mostly concern county finances ^{[5, 2, 6]}.

The job in full — the duties the Indiana Code puts in it, the term, what it pays and who sets that, and what to ask a candidate.

Term

4 years, starting January 1 after the election; seats are staggered, so one or two of the three seats are filled at each general election ^[7]

Elected

On the partisan general-election ballot; each commissioner represents a district and must live in it, but in every county except Lake and St. Joseph the whole county votes on every commissioner seat; in Lake and St. Joseph counties only the district's voters choose ^{[8, 9]}

Term limit

None stated; the statute that sets the four-year term does not limit how many terms a commissioner may serve ^[7]

Qualifications

Must have lived in the county at least one year and in the commissioner district at least six months before the election, and be registered to vote in the election district; a county employee who is elected must leave that county job on taking office ^{[10, 9]}

Pay

Set locally: the county council fixes the compensation of county officers in its annual salary ordinance ^{[4, 11]}

On the 2026 ballot

94 races; 41 contested ^[12]

Allen County's numbers for this office

Legal Insights county office research (Oct. 13, 2026): Indiana Gateway budgets 2019-2026 and the indicator sources linked on each line.

• In most counties this department also holds countywide costs such as group and liability insurance, contracts and some capital projects. It is the department total, not the cost of the board of commissioners.

Also on the record for this office

• SEA 1 estimated county-unit revenue change in 2028 vs prior law: $-10,061,720 (LSA)
• MUST taskforce (LIT distribution talks): none found
• wheel tax: none found
• fiscal consultant named in records: none found

Measured, for this county

A position compares this county with counties of similar size. It is not a grade: for most measures a higher or lower number is neither good nor bad on its own.

About this race

• Open seat: Commissioner Rich Beck (Republican) is retiring at the end of his term ^[23]. District 3 is primarily in southwest Allen County ^[27].
• How the seat is elected: Allen County's three commissioners are elected countywide by the whole county ^[27]; candidates must live in their district ^[8].
• Two of the three commissioner seats are open in 2026: Therese Brown (District 2) and Rich Beck (District 3) both announced they would retire at the end of their terms ^[23].
• Jail: in early 2025 the commissioners approved a hard construction cost of nearly $268 million for a new county jail on the former International Harvester site, which the county committed to build in response to a federal court order over safety and overcrowding at the downtown jail; construction must be finished by November 2027, and the project has drawn opposition over its necessity, location and cost ^[26].
• Data centers and zoning: in December 2023 the commissioners voted 3-0 to approve annexation of 728 acres near East Paulding and Adams Center roads for the 'Project Zodiac' data center over objections from nearby homeowners ^[25].
• Other 2026 local issues raised in coverage: a proposed quarry in southwest Allen County, and a binding casino referendum on the Nov. 3 ballot ^{[28, 29]}.
• May 5, 2026 Republican primary: Paul Moss defeated Ewelina Connolly, 10,623 votes to 10,556 in unofficial results ^[30]. The Election Board's certified count on May 15 put the margin at 65 votes ^[31]. Connolly requested a recount, citing the close margin and Election Day operations in the county's first use of vote centers; the recount, completed in early August, left Moss at 10,623 and Connolly at 10,557 ^{[32, 33, 34]}.
• Jorge Fernandez was unopposed in the Democratic primary (13,947 votes) ^{[34, 35]}.
• Key differences: Fernandez's platform centers on scrutiny of county contracts, reducing tax-increment financing, reducing the jail population and environmentally focused planning ^{[27, 36]}; Moss's campaign describes him as a pro-law-enforcement, pro-growth conservative focused on fiscally responsible, transparent government ^{[29, 37]}. Moss has said he opposes the proposed southwest Allen County quarry ^[29].
• No candidate forum or debate coverage for this race was found. During the primary Moss did not respond to WPTA's interview requests ^[29].

Candidates on the ballot

Key points

• Open seat: Commissioner Rich Beck (Republican) is retiring at the end of his term. District 3 is primarily in southwest Allen County. (WPTA 21Alive)
• Google's ~892-acre campus was annexed and approved by Fort Wayne (2023-24) with a 10-year, 50% real-property abatement. Fort Wayne's council delayed a moratorium vote to Oct 13, 2026. No county data-center ordinance was found. (wfyi.org)
• Allen County government adopted a $361.6 million budget for 2026, about $899 per resident; that is +12.6% compared with 2023. (Indiana Gateway for Government Units)

Sources