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2026 General Election · Tuesday, November 3, 2026

LaPorte County Commissioner, District 1

Voted on across LaPorte County, in district 1. Open seat: Connie Gramarossa is not on the ballot.

Find your exact ballotAll LaPorte County races

Who votes on this seat: Commissioners must live in their district, but every voter in the county votes for this seat. Indiana Code 36-2-2-5

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]
What the law puts in this job (13)
  • Acts as the county executive and transacts county business under the name of the board of commissioners [1].
  • Runs the day-to-day administration of county government affairs that the state has not given to a separately elected county officer [2].
  • Serves as the county's legislative body, passing ordinances and resolutions, in every county except Lake, Marion and St. Joseph, where that power belongs to the county council [2].
  • Controls, maintains and supervises county property such as the courthouse, the jail building and county offices [13].
  • Oversees county roads and bridges, highway records, speed limits and stop signs [13].
  • Audits and approves claims for payment, takes bids and authorizes county contracts [13].
  • Prepares the commissioners' part of the county budget and recommends salaries to the county council, which must consider the executive's recommendations before adopting the salary ordinance [13, 11].
  • Handles zoning, planning, building regulation and economic development matters, and in many counties casts the final vote on rezoning requests such as proposed data centers [13, 14].
  • Sets voting precincts and polling places and appoints members of many county boards [13].
  • Establishes and maintains the county health department and can declare a local disaster emergency [2].
  • Draws the three commissioner districts and the county council districts, outside the largest counties where a commission or the council draws them [15, 16].
  • Does not set the county budget, property tax rate or salaries; those decisions belong to the county council, and no money leaves the county treasury without a council appropriation except as otherwise provided by law [3, 4, 11].
  • Does not run the offices of other elected county officials such as the sheriff, auditor or treasurer, which are separately elected [2].

What has changed in this job lately

Changes in the law the next officeholder will work under, most distant first.

  1. 2023

    Under Senate Enrolled Act 4, the Health First Indiana public health fund required counties to opt in; Huntington County's commissioners, for example, voted to opt in in June 2023, and 86 counties covering about 96% of Hoosiers received funding while Whitley, Wells, Fountain, Johnson, Crawford and Harrison counties did not opt in [17, 18].

  2. 2023

    State law gave counties with 185,000 to 300,000 residents until September 1, 2023, to opt in to electing commissioners from three single-member districts with a nine-member council elected entirely by district [15, 8, 19, 16].

  3. 2025

    Commissioners in several counties faced data center rezoning requests; in Kosciusko County, commissioners did not approve a rezoning for a proposed Prologis data center after opposition from residents, and the Indianapolis Business Journal reported that a 2019 state law offers qualified data center operators tax breaks of up to 50 years [14].

  4. April 15, 2025

    Gov. Mike Braun signed Senate Enrolled Act 1, a property tax law he called historic tax relief; Rep. Greg Porter (D-Indianapolis) said it would cost local governments and schools up to $1.8 billion over three years, and the law also gives local governments new income tax tools [20].

  5. March 12, 2026

    House Enrolled Act 1210 delayed SEA 1's local income tax overhaul by one year, so current county income tax ordinances now expire January 1, 2029, and it lets counties create a Municipal Unit Strategic Taskforce of county and city representatives to negotiate how income tax revenue is shared [21, 22].

LaPorte 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.

Commissioners' department (code 0068), 2026 adopted budget

$19,992,521

75% more than 2019, before inflation

2019: $11,442,6002020: $14,081,2522021: $14,081,2522022: $14,685,5242023: $14,860,1842024: $16,353,3632025: $17,547,7612026: $19,992,521
2019 $11,442,6002026 $19,992,521
The year-by-year figures

Adopted budget, all funds, 2019-2026 (not adjusted for inflation)

  • 2019: $11,442,600
  • 2020: $14,081,252
  • 2021: $14,081,252
  • 2022: $14,685,524
  • 2023: $14,860,184
  • 2024: $16,353,363
  • 2025: $17,547,761
  • 2026: $19,992,521

Budget lines counted: 0068 COUNTY COMMISSIONERS

Adopted 2026 county budget (Form 1 line items, Form 4B) and earlier years' budgets

All members combined, 2026 budget lines (presidents are often paid more)

$126,209

From the county budget; verify against the county's 2026 salary ordinance. A line can include longevity pay or a second role.

  • 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: $-2,720,470 (LSA)
  • MUST taskforce (LIT distribution talks): convened
  • wheel tax: declined
  • fiscal consultant named in records: Baker Tilly

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.

General Fund cash, in days of spending · 2025

127 days

End-of-2025 General Fund cash divided by a year's disbursements, times 365.

How much this is the officeholder's to decide: high (council and commissioners jointly): spending and appropriation decisions

Position 12 of 17 counties with 50,000 to 150,000 residents that have this figure (1 = highest value)

source · source

Share of the 2025 General Fund budget spent · 2025

95.3%

Actual General Fund spending divided by the certified budget.

How much this is the officeholder's to decide: high (council appropriates; commissioners and officers spend)

Position 12 of 17 counties with 50,000 to 150,000 residents that have this figure (1 = highest value)

source · source

County debt per resident · 2025

$173

Debt outstanding at the end of 2025 (annual financial report).

How much this is the officeholder's to decide: high (council authorizes borrowing; commissioners initiate many projects)

Position 8 of 17 counties with 50,000 to 150,000 residents that have this figure (1 = highest value)

source · source

Budget growth, 2023 to 2026 · 2023-2026

+23.7%

Adopted budget, all funds, not adjusted for inflation.

How much this is the officeholder's to decide: high (council adopts the budget)

Position 9 of 17 counties with 50,000 to 150,000 residents that have this figure (1 = highest value)

source · source

SEA 1 estimate for 2028 · 2028 (LSA estimate)

-5.7%

Legislative Services Agency estimate of the county government's revenue change under the 2025 property tax law, compared with prior law.

How much this is the officeholder's to decide: low: set by state law (SEA 1-2025); local rate choices from 2028 change the outcome

Position 4 of 17 counties with 50,000 to 150,000 residents that have this figure (1 = highest value)

source

Property tax cap credits · 2026

16.4%

Tax-cap (circuit breaker) credits as a share of the 2026 levy: revenue the county does not collect because of the caps.

How much this is the officeholder's to decide: low: set mainly by the constitutional caps and the combined rates of all units in the county

Position 6 of 17 counties with 50,000 to 150,000 residents that have this figure (1 = highest value)

source · source

County bridges rated poor · 2025

11.8%

Share of county-owned bridges in poor condition (2025 inventory).

How much this is the officeholder's to decide: partial: commissioners set road and bridge priorities and local match; projects take years and depend on grants

Position 2 of 17 counties with 50,000 to 150,000 residents that have this figure (1 = highest value)

source

Highway spending per lane-mile · 2025

$7,159

2025 county highway spending per lane-mile of county road.

How much this is the officeholder's to decide: high (commissioners direct the highway department; council appropriates)

Position 8 of 17 counties with 50,000 to 150,000 residents that have this figure (1 = highest value)

source · source

Meeting minutes online · 2026-10

Posted as scanned images

Whether the council's or commissioners' minutes are posted online (the better of the two), checked Oct. 2026.

How much this is the officeholder's to decide: high (commissioners and council decide what they post)

About this race

  • La Porte County is governed by a three-member Board of Commissioners; all three are currently Republicans: Steve Holifield (District 2, president), Connie Gramarossa (District 1, vice president) and Joe Haney (District 3) [31].
  • District 1 is voted on countywide: the 2022 District 1 race drew 31,796 votes from across the county, and the 2026 Republican District 1 primary drew 6,266 votes, far more than any single council district [23, 26]. Candidates must live in the district.
  • This is an open seat in practice: incumbent Connie Gramarossa lost the Republican primary to Jody Slabaugh 70.54% to 29.46%, and Angela Henzman won the Democratic primary over former Michigan City mayor Ron Meer, 66.96% to 33.04% [26, 32].
  • County finances are a central issue. County officials said La Porte County faces revenue cuts of more than $2 million in each of the next three years under the 2025 state property-tax law [33]. On August 24, 2026 the county council rejected a county wheel tax 4-3, which county reporting said means losing more than $3 million in state road money over two years [34, 35]. The council has scheduled an October 14 public hearing on a new local income tax of about $6 million a year to fund the county ambulance service, with a vote expected October 26 [36, 37].
  • Data centers and solar farms have been major land-use issues. The commissioners adopted a data center ordinance in May 2026 [30]. In July 2026 the Board of Zoning Appeals rejected a proposed solar farm in the southeast part of the county, and the developer has sued the board [38, 39].
  • Henzman has said she supports a temporary moratorium on data centers until more is known about them [32]. Slabaugh has described his campaign message as "transparency, integrity and professional leadership" [27]. Freely available coverage of a commissioner candidate forum or debate was not found.

Who holds this seat now

Connie Gramarossa (Republican) — not on this ballot.

Connie Gramarossa won the District 1 seat on the three-member La Porte County Board of Commissioners in November 2022 [23]. She served as board president through 2025 and was chosen vice president for 2026 [24, 25]. She sought a second four-year term but lost the May 5, 2026 Republican primary to Jody Slabaugh, so she is not on the November ballot [26, 27].

Gramarossa's record in the job

  • November 2022: Elected District 1 commissioner with 56.19% of the countywide vote over Democrat Sheila Brillson Matias [23].
  • October 2025: The commissioners voted unanimously to ask the La Porte County Plan Commission to adopt an ordinance allowing data centers only in areas zoned for industrial use, after residents near Indiana 39 and 400 South raised concerns about a possible data center on farmland [28].
  • December 17, 2025: As board president, asked the county's bridge consultant, USI Consultants, to explain to the board how Bridge 503 and Bridge 39 had been handled after concerns were raised at an earlier meeting; the consultant described the inspection finding that led to closing Bridge 39 [24].
  • January 7, 2026: Nominated Commissioner Steve Holifield as 2026 board president (approved 3-0); Gramarossa was then elected vice president 2-1 over Commissioner Joe Haney [29, 25].
  • May 6, 2026: Voted with the other commissioners to give final, unanimous approval to the data center ordinance, which limits data centers to the Kingsbury Industrial Park or other industrial areas in unincorporated La Porte County and still requires Board of Zoning Appeals approval. She said: "There's a place for them and they just have to be placed in the right spot. This is not something we want next to somebody's home" [30].
  • May 5, 2026: Lost the Republican primary, 1,846 votes (29.46%) to Slabaugh's 4,420 (70.54%) [26].

Candidates on the ballot

Angela Henzman

Democratic

Co-director of the La Porte County Voter Registration office and former La Porte County Democratic Party chairman [40, 41]. She won the Democratic nomination over Ron Meer and has called for a temporary moratorium on data centers [26, 32].

Henzman's background

  • Co-director of the La Porte County Voter Registration office [40, 42].
  • In 2022 she left a full-time managerial job in retail to manage State Rep. Pat Boy's campaign, according to Hometown News Now [43].
  • Elected La Porte County Democratic Party chairman by precinct committeepersons in December 2022; she resigned the post in May 2024 while remaining the party's nominee for county clerk [43, 41].
  • Ran for La Porte County Clerk in 2024 and lost to Republican incumbent Heather Stevens, 41.37% to 58.63% [44, 45].

Henzman's positions

Data centers & energy projects

  • Said after the primary that her stance against data centers, including support for a temporary moratorium on them until more is known about the facilities, helped her win, according to Hometown News Now [32].

How Henzman would run the office

  • As party chairman in 2022 she said candidates should be accessible and active in their communities year-round, not only before elections [43]. No detailed plan for the commissioner's office was found in freely available sources.

How Henzman got on the ballot

  • Won the May 5, 2026 Democratic primary with 3,616 votes (66.96%) to Ron Meer's 1,784 (33.04%) [26].

What we could not find about Henzman

  • No campaign website or detailed platform was found; her positions on the county budget, the proposed ambulance income tax, the wheel tax, roads and county staffing were not found in freely available sources.
  • Herald-Dispatch coverage of the primary and of the candidates could not be reviewed for this profile.
  • No freely available statements by Henzman about Commissioner Gramarossa's record were found.
  • No endorsements were found in freely available sources.

Sources for Henzman

Jody Slabaugh

Republican

La Porte resident who defeated incumbent Commissioner Connie Gramarossa in the Republican primary with about 71% of the vote [26, 27]. He has described his message as transparency, integrity and professional leadership [27].

Slabaugh's background

  • Described by Hometown News Now as a La Porte man; he has referred to "the businesses that I have" [27, 46].
  • His BallotReady candidate profile lists his occupation as small business owner, without naming the businesses [47]. No prior elected office was found in freely available sources.

Slabaugh's positions

Transparency

  • Said voters were receptive to his message of "transparency, integrity and professional leadership during the campaign" [27].

Slabaugh on the current officeholder

  • After defeating Gramarossa, he said he was surprised by the margin and credited voters' response to his message. He also said: "I'll take the win however I can get it" [27]. No other statements by him about Gramarossa's record were found in freely available sources.

How Slabaugh got on the ballot

  • Filed by the February 2026 deadline to challenge Gramarossa for the Republican nomination [48].
  • Won the May 5, 2026 Republican primary with 4,420 votes (70.54%) to Gramarossa's 1,846 (29.46%) [26].

What we could not find about Slabaugh

  • His businesses are not named; his occupation comes only from a self-reported BallotReady profile.
  • No campaign website or detailed platform was found; his positions on the county budget, the proposed ambulance income tax, the wheel tax, data centers, solar farms, roads and county staffing were not found in freely available sources.
  • Herald-Dispatch coverage of the primary and of his campaign could not be reviewed for this profile.
  • No detailed plans for the commissioner's office were found in freely available sources.
  • No endorsements were found in freely available sources.

Sources for Slabaugh

Key points

  • This is an open seat in practice: incumbent Connie Gramarossa lost the Republican primary to Jody Slabaugh 70.54% to 29.46%, and Angela Henzman won the Democratic primary over former Michigan City mayor Ron Meer, 66.96% to 33.04%. (La Porte County, Indiana)
  • Ord. 2026-08 failed 3-4 on Aug 24, 2026 after being cut to the statutory minimum with a two-year sunset; news reported it would have raised about $500,000 a year and that the county loses more than $3M of state road money over two years. (laporteco.in.gov)

    Worth asking: A minimum wheel tax with a two-year sunset failed 3-4 in August 2026; news reports said that forgoes over $3 million in state road money. How would you pay for upkeep of more than 1,000 miles of county roads?

  • LaPorte County government adopted a $92.7 million budget for 2026, about $833 per resident; that is +23.7% compared with 2023. (Indiana Gateway for Government Units)

Sources

Researched Sunday, October 11, 2026

  1. Indiana Code 36-2-2-2: Board of commissioners as county executive (FindLaw (Indiana Code, current as of 2026-01-01))
  2. County Government Overview: Indiana (National Association of Counties (NACo))
  3. Indiana Code 36-2-5-2: Tax rates and appropriations (FindLaw (Indiana Code, current as of 2026-01-01))
  4. Indiana Code 36-2-5-3: Compensation of officers and employees (FindLaw (Indiana Code, current as of 2026-01-01))
  5. Indiana Code 36-2-2-1: Application of chapter (FindLaw (Indiana Code, current as of 2026-01-01))
  6. Marion County Commissioners (Encyclopedia of Indianapolis (Thomas C. Kennedy))
  7. Indiana Code 36-2-2-3: Election and term of executive (FindLaw (Indiana Code, current as of 2026-01-01))
  8. Indiana Code 36-2-2-5: Qualifications and residency of members; district or countywide election (FindLaw (Indiana Code, current as of 2026-01-01))
  9. 2026 Indiana Candidate Guide (Indiana Election Division)
  10. Indiana Code 3-8-1-21: Candidates for county commissioner (FindLaw (Indiana Code, current as of 2026-01-01))
  11. Indiana Code 36-2-5-11: Annual budget, tax rate and salary ordinances (FindLaw (Indiana Code, current as of 2026-01-01))
  12. 2026 General Election Candidate List (Indiana Election Division)
  13. Commissioners Responsibilities (Boone County, Indiana)
  14. Indiana state officials want to attract data centers. Local communities are beginning to push back (Indianapolis Business Journal via Inside INdiana Business (Marek Mazurek))
  15. Indiana Code 36-2-2-4: Commissioner districts (FindLaw (Indiana Code, current as of 2026-01-01))
  16. Indiana Code 36-2-3-4: Council districts and at-large members (FindLaw (Indiana Code, current as of 2026-01-01))
  17. Huntington County opts in to Health First Indiana Fund (Huntington County Health Department)
  18. County health departments see $75M public health investment (Indianapolis Business Journal via Inside INdiana Business (Cate Charron))
  19. Indiana Code 36-2-3-2: County council as fiscal body; size (FindLaw (Indiana Code, current as of 2026-01-01))
  20. Gov. Mike Braun signs 'historic' property tax relief bill into law, critics call it a 'lose-lose' (Indiana Public Media (Brandon Smith))
  21. Legislation Affecting Local Income Taxes (memorandum on HEA 1210-2026) (Indiana Department of Local Government Finance)
  22. Delay in local income tax changes sets up more legislative debate next year (Indiana Capital Chronicle via Indiana Public Media (Tom Davies))
  23. Election Summary Report, 2022 General Election (La Porte County, Indiana)
  24. Minutes, La Porte County Commissioners meeting, December 17, 2025 (La Porte County Board of Commissioners)
  25. Holifield Named County Commission President (Hometown News Now)
  26. Election Summary Report, 2026 Primary Election (La Porte County, Indiana)
  27. Slabaugh Defeats Gramarossa in Primary Landslide (Hometown News Now)
  28. Commissioners Ask for Data Center Restrictions (Hometown News Now)
  29. Minutes, La Porte County Commissioners meeting, January 7, 2026 (La Porte County Board of Commissioners)
  30. Data Center Ordinance Now in the Books (Hometown News Now)
  31. Board of Commissioners (La Porte County, Indiana)
  32. No Political Comeback for Meer (Hometown News Now)
  33. Tax Cut to Result in Higher Taxes (Hometown News Now)
  34. Wheel Tax Narrowly Defeated (Hometown News Now)
  35. Minutes, La Porte County Council regular meeting, August 24, 2026 (La Porte County Council)
  36. Public Hearing Over Proposed Tax Rescheduled (Hometown News Now)
  37. Public Hearing Set for Proposed New Tax (Hometown News Now)
  38. Proposed Solar Farm Given Thumbs Down (Hometown News Now)
  39. Lawsuit Filed Over Solar Farm Rejection (Hometown News Now)
  40. Voter Registration (La Porte County, Indiana)
  41. Democratic Party Chairman Steps Down (Hometown News Now)
  42. Minutes, La Porte County Council regular meeting, July 27, 2026 (La Porte County Council)
  43. New Party Chairman Aims to Reverse Slide (Hometown News Now)
  44. Election Summary Report, 2024 General Election (provisional final) (La Porte County, Indiana)
  45. Holifield Defeats Stabosz in Commission Race (Hometown News Now)
  46. Questions Raised Over Candidate's Alleged Tax Debt (Hometown News Now)
  47. Jody Slabaugh (candidate profile) (BallotReady)
  48. Primary Opponents in Race for County Commissioner (Hometown News Now)
What's included
the U.S. House, statewide offices, every Indiana House and Senate district on the ballot, Indiana's statewide public questions and judicial retention questions, and county, township, city, town and school board races from the Indiana Election Division's candidate list.
Everything else
Local races (county, city, school board, judges) and anything else on your ballot are on your official sample ballot: IndianaVoters.in.gov.
Candidate lists
As of Sunday, October 18, 2026.
At the polls
Indiana law lets you bring a list of candidates and public questions into the polling place, including one stored on your phone, as long as you don't electioneer. IC 3-11-8-18.5

This is not an official ballot. Confirm your registration, polling place and ballot with your election office through vote.gov.