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2026 General Election · Tuesday, November 3, 2026

St. Joseph County Commissioner, District 1

Voted on across St. Joseph County, in district 1.

Find your exact ballotAll St. Joseph County races

Who votes on this seat: In this county only voters who live in District 1 choose this commissioner. 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].

St. Joseph 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

$3,828,194

9% less than 2019, before inflation

2019: $4,187,4152020: $4,583,4792021: $2,867,5422022: $3,339,0442023: $3,600,9482024: $4,334,9652025: $3,773,8492026: $3,828,194
2019 $4,187,4152026 $3,828,194
The year-by-year figures

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

  • 2019: $4,187,415
  • 2020: $4,583,479
  • 2021: $2,867,542
  • 2022: $3,339,044
  • 2023: $3,600,948
  • 2024: $4,334,965
  • 2025: $3,773,849
  • 2026: $3,828,194

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)

$167,364

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: $-12,232,880 (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.

General Fund cash, in days of spending · 2025

243 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 3 of 10 counties with 150,000 or more residents that have this figure (1 = highest value)

source · source

Share of the 2025 General Fund budget spent · 2025

100.5%

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 5 of 11 counties with 150,000 or more residents that have this figure (1 = highest value)

source · source

County debt per resident · 2025

$330

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 5 of 11 counties with 150,000 or more residents that have this figure (1 = highest value)

source · source

Budget growth, 2023 to 2026 · 2023-2026

+18.2%

Adopted budget, all funds, not adjusted for inflation.

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

Position 6 of 10 counties with 150,000 or more residents that have this figure (1 = highest value)

source · source

SEA 1 estimate for 2028 · 2028 (LSA estimate)

-14.5%

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 9 of 10 counties with 150,000 or more residents that have this figure (1 = highest value)

source

Property tax cap credits · 2026

20.9%

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 1 of 11 counties with 150,000 or more residents that have this figure (1 = highest value)

source · source

County bridges rated poor · 2025

9.9%

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 5 of 10 counties with 150,000 or more residents that have this figure (1 = highest value)

source

Highway spending per lane-mile · 2025

$9,592

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 5 of 10 counties with 150,000 or more residents that have this figure (1 = highest value)

source · source

Meeting minutes online · 2026-10

Not checked (the site blocked the check)

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

  • St. Joseph County has a three-member Board of Commissioners, the county's executive branch [26]. The other commissioners are Democrat Rafael Morton (District 2, elected 2024) and Republican Tony Hazen (District 3) [26, 32]. WVPE reported that a Redman win would give Democrats their first board majority since 2012 [26].
  • Incumbent Carl Baxmeyer, the board president, is seeking re-election; outgoing Sheriff Bill Redman, who is term-limited as sheriff, is challenging him [26, 33]. Whether commissioners are elected countywide or by district voters only could not be confirmed from sources reviewed.
  • No contested primary for this seat was reported in 95.3 MNC's May 2026 primary coverage, which previewed the Redman-Baxmeyer contest as a November race [33, 34].
  • County issues in 2026 include the Microsoft and Amazon data centers and proposals to restrict future ones [31, 35], a proposed Granger TIF expansion [36], the disposal of the Portage Manor property [30, 29], and budgets shaped by the 2025 state property-tax law (SEA 1) [37].
  • Key difference on the record: Baxmeyer has opposed a data center moratorium and favored stronger development standards [31]; Redman's stated platform centers on police and fire support, road maintenance and snow removal, and no new taxes, and no statement from him on data centers was found [38].
  • No candidate forum or debate for this race was found in available coverage.

Who holds this seat now

Carl H. Baxmeyer (Republican) — on this ballot, standing again.

Baxmeyer's record in the job

  • July-August 2022: Chosen in a Republican caucus to finish Kostielney's term; sworn in and elected board president 2-1 on August 30, 2022 over Commissioner Derek Dieter, who objected to the choice [23].
  • May 2022: Won the Republican primary for the seat; ABC57 described it as a close race [27]. November 2022: Held the seat against Democrat Don Westerhausen, according to WVPE [24, 23].
  • 2022 campaign positions (South Bend Tribune Q&A): proposed moving commissioner meetings to evenings, more online participation, a full review of county assets and procedures, joint purchasing bids with South Bend and Mishawaka, and reviewing county office space [28].
  • May 2026: On Portage Manor, said commissioners would issue requests for proposals for the building and woods and, separately, the former farm; said he supports St. Thomas More Academy's proposal for the building but that taking proposals was important for transparency [29]. When the council required its approval for any sale, he said, "I'm not sure that's really necessary but I'm not going to argue with Indiana Code," and that it is "ultimately the commissioners' responsibility to move ahead with this" [30].
  • May 2026: Said large projects such as Microsoft's Granger data center can help offset revenue lost to state property-tax relief, asking, "Who do you want to pay the bill, us as individuals or these big companies that are investing here?" He said Microsoft's decision not to seek a tax abatement means "we lose some leverage," asked the council to consider strengthening the development ordinance for all industrial uses, and opposed a moratorium on data centers [31].
  • January 2026: His re-election filing announcement described his tenure as emphasizing fiscal management, infrastructure investment and steady leadership focused on core county services [25].

Candidates on the ballot

Carl H. Baxmeyer

RepublicanIncumbent

Republican incumbent and president of the Board of Commissioners since 2022, who says he has focused on fiscal management, infrastructure and core county services [25, 23].

Baxmeyer's background

  • Commissioner for District 1 since August 2022 and board president since August 30, 2022 [23].
  • Listed his occupation in 2022 as a planning department manager; holds a B.S. in environmental science/planning from Grand Valley State and an M.S. in natural resource management from Colorado State [28].
  • Before 2022 he had not held elected office; he ran unsuccessfully for South Bend mayor (1987), Congress (1992) and state representative (2012) [23].

Baxmeyer's positions

Data centers & energy projects

  • Opposes a moratorium on data centers; wants the council to look at strengthening the development ordinance for all industrial uses [31].
  • Says large companies' property taxes can help offset revenue lost to state property-tax relief [31].

Economic development

  • Said Microsoft's decision not to seek a tax abatement reduces the county's leverage, which a development agreement would provide [31].

Transparency

  • Said seeking competing proposals for Portage Manor was important for transparency [29]; in 2022 proposed evening meetings and more online participation [28].

How Baxmeyer would run the office

  • Running to continue work on fiscal management, infrastructure investment and core county services, according to his filing announcement [25].
  • Expects commissioners to take proposals on Portage Manor and work with the council on criteria [30, 29].

Baxmeyer on the current officeholder

  • Is the current officeholder. No statements by Baxmeyer about Redman's candidacy were found.

How Baxmeyer got on the ballot

  • Filed for re-election on January 12, 2026 [25, 26]. No contested Republican primary for the seat was reported [33, 34].

What we could not find about Baxmeyer

  • No campaign website was found.
  • County commissioners' minutes and agendas could not be reviewed for this profile, so recorded votes on budgets, roads and abatements are not included.
  • November 2022 vote totals were not found in sources reviewed.
  • Campaign finance reports could not be reviewed for this profile.
  • No endorsements or campaign finance reports were found in sources reviewed.

Sources for Baxmeyer

Bill Redman

Democratic

Democratic nominee and two-term St. Joseph County sheriff, term-limited in that office, who says he would focus on support for police and fire departments, road maintenance and snow removal without raising taxes [26, 38].

Redman's background

  • St. Joseph County sheriff, elected in 2018 and re-elected in 2022; ends a 31-year law enforcement career because the Indiana Constitution limits sheriffs to eight years in any 12-year period [26, 38].
  • According to his campaign, began as a special deputy in 1994 and rose through the ranks from lieutenant to assistant chief before being elected sheriff, and spent 18 years as a D.A.R.E. officer in Penn-Harris-Madison schools [38].
  • His campaign lists involvement with LOGAN, the CASIE Center and the 525 Foundation [38].

Redman's positions

Public safety & jail

  • Says he would ensure "police and fire departments have the tools they need" [38, 26].

Roads & infrastructure

  • Promises "better maintained roads and more efficient snow removal for every neighborhood" [38, 39].

Budget & taxes

  • Says he would provide essential services "without increasing the tax burden on our residents"; no specific budget plan was found [38].

How Redman would run the office

  • Lists his priorities as leading with professionalism and integrity, supporting police and fire departments, and improving road maintenance and snow removal [26, 39].

How Redman got on the ballot

  • Filed for the Democratic nomination for District 1 on January 29, 2026 [26]. No contested Democratic primary for the seat was reported [33, 34].

What we could not find about Redman

  • No positions found on data centers, the Granger TIF, Portage Manor, SEA 1 or the county budget beyond a no-new-taxes pledge.
  • Campaign finance reports could not be reviewed for this profile.
  • South Bend Tribune coverage of the race could not be reviewed for this profile.
  • No statements by Redman about Baxmeyer's record were found; his campaign describes his approach as professional leadership without "political games" [38].
  • No endorsements or campaign finance reports were found in sources reviewed.

Redman's campaign website

Sources for Redman

Key points

  • Incumbent Carl Baxmeyer, the board president, is seeking re-election; outgoing Sheriff Bill Redman, who is term-limited as sheriff, is challenging him. (WVPE)
  • The resolution directs the plan commission to draft zoning amendments (vote 6-3). (inkfreenews.com)

    Worth asking: On Sept 22, 2026 the council voted 6-3 to have the Area Plan Commission draft a ban on new hyperscale data centers in unincorporated areas. When the draft returns, what will decide your vote, and should existing data center tax breaks be renegotiated?

  • St. Joseph County government adopted a $218.5 million budget for 2026, about $801 per resident; that is +18.2% 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. St. Joseph County commissioners pick newcomer Carl Baxmeyer as president (WVPE)
  24. Republicans may win St. Joseph County Council majority, flipping body from Democrats (WVPE)
  25. Baxmeyer to file for reelection on Monday (95.3 MNC)
  26. Redman hopes to challenge Baxmeyer for commissioner seat (WVPE)
  27. St. Joseph County Commissioner race results (ABC57)
  28. Q&A: Candidates in contested St. Joseph County primary races share their views (South Bend Tribune (via Yahoo News))
  29. Commissioners share what they'd like to see happen with Portage Manor (WVPE)
  30. Portage Manor sale sparks power debate between council, commissioners (WVPE)
  31. St. Joseph County officials respond to data center construction concerns (WVPE)
  32. St. Joseph County Commission primary results (ABC57)
  33. Top five races to watch in St. Joseph County on primary day (95.3 MNC)
  34. 2026 primary election results (95.3 MNC)
  35. St. Joseph County Council votes to begin data center ban process (InkFreeNews)
  36. Proposed TIF district near Granger data center faces pushback (ABC57)
  37. St. Joseph County leaders begin 2027 budget process (ABC57)
  38. Bill Redman for St. Joseph County Commissioner (campaign website) (Redman campaign)
  39. 2026 Candidates (St. Joseph County Democratic Party)
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.