Vigo County Council, District 3

What this office does

The county council is the county's fiscal body: it sets the county property tax rate, appropriates the money the county spends and fixes the pay and number of county employees ^{[1, 2, 3]}. Most councils have seven members, four elected from districts and three elected countywide (at large), though some larger counties elect all members by district ^{[1, 4]}. The board of commissioners runs county government day to day, while the council controls the money ^{[5, 6]}. Marion County has no separate county council; the 25-member Indianapolis City-County Council serves as the legislative body for the consolidated city-county government ^{[7, 8]}.

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; district seats and at-large seats are filled at alternating general elections ^[9]

Elected

On the partisan general-election ballot; in most counties four members are elected by district voters and three at large by the whole county, while counties of 400,000–700,000 residents elect seven members by district and opt-in counties of 185,000–300,000 elect nine by district ^{[4, 1]}. Every county council race on the 2026 state candidate list is a district seat ^[10]

At-large races

All three at-large seats are filled at the same election, so voters may choose up to three candidates and the top three vote-getters win; straight-ticket votes do not count in these multi-seat races ^{[4, 11]}

Term limit

None stated; the statute that sets the four-year term does not limit how many terms a member may serve ^[9]

Qualifications

Must have lived in the county at least one year, and in the district (for a district seat) 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 ^{[12, 13]}

Pay

Set locally in the council's annual ordinance fixing the compensation of county officers and employees ^{[3, 14]}

On the 2026 ballot

368 races; 147 contested ^[10]

Vigo 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.

Also on the record for this office

• SEA 1 estimated county-unit revenue change in 2028 vs prior law: $-1,692,030 (LSA)
• MUST taskforce (LIT distribution talks): none found
• wheel tax: none found
• 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.

About this race

• The seven-member Vigo County Council (Terre Haute) is the county's fiscal body. Its four district seats, held by David Thompson (District 1), Nancy Allsup (District 2), Vicki Weger (District 3) and Randy Gentry (District 4), all have terms ending Dec. 31, 2026; at-large members Brad Anderson, Steve Ellis (2026 president) and Brenda Wilson serve through 2028 ^[35]. District seats are voted on only by voters in the district: the 2022 and 2026 results list each council district separately, with 20 to 25 precincts each ^{[26, 36]}.
• The dominant issue for the council in 2025–2026 has been whether the county should help pay for the Vigo County School Corp.'s facilities plan. In October 2025 the council voted 4-3 for Councilman Steve Ellis's Ordinance 2025-2, which would require a voter referendum before county money goes to school construction and bar county funding of a school oversight board; then-President David Thompson declared it invalid and withheld his signature ^{[28, 37]}. On Nov. 12, 2025 the council voted 4-3 (Thompson, Weger, Anderson and Wilson for; Allsup, Ellis and Gentry against) to give $100,000 in casino revenue to an oversight board, with language limiting the county's obligation to that amount ^{[29, 30]}.
• In September 2026 the oversight board recommended a $222 million plan ("Option 6.2") to build a new east-side high school and fully renovate West Vigo High School, asking the county for $15 million up front and $6 million a year for 20 years; Council President Ellis referred the commissioners' funding request, and a related Resolution 2026-2, to an ad hoc committee of himself, Allsup and Gentry ^{[38, 34, 39]}.
• Budget context: the council adopted a $99.2 million 2026 county budget 7-0 on Oct. 14, 2025, after the budget committee reported cutting about $1 million from requests while finishing raises to the midpoint of a Baker Tilly pay study ^[28]. The proposed 2027 budget is about $124.2 million, with a final vote set for Oct. 13, 2026 (the outcome was not yet in the sources reviewed), along with Resolution 2026-3, which keeps local income tax rates unchanged (including a 0.20% rate for correctional or rehabilitation facilities) ^{[38, 35, 40]}. At the Sept. 1, 2026 meeting the county's consultants discussed the effects of Senate Enrolled Act 1 and a recent S&P bond-rating downgrade ^[38].
• District 3 Democratic primary (May 5, 2026, unofficial): Weger 733 votes (37.92%), Trevor Dreher 498 (25.76%), Deandre Maurice Shaffer 285 (14.74%), Elias Brown 269 (13.92%), Kevin Southwood 148 (7.66%). Tim Fears was unopposed for the Republican nomination with 1,069 votes ^[36].
• The League of Women Voters of Vigo County held a general-election forum for council and commissioner candidates on Sept. 22, 2026, at the Vigo County Public Library, covering school facility funding, council unity, data centers, tax abatements and jail overcrowding ^{[39, 41]}. Fears did not attend ^[39].
• Fears has given no public positions in sources reviewed, so no comparison of the candidates' policies is possible from available coverage.

Candidates on the ballot

Key points

• The dominant issue for the council in 2025–2026 has been whether the county should help pay for the Vigo County School Corp.'s facilities plan. (Vigo County Council)
• Vigo County government adopted a $99.2 million budget for 2026, about $931 per resident; that is +33.1% compared with 2023. (Indiana Gateway for Government Units)
• Legislative Services Agency estimate: the 2025 property tax law (SEA 1) changes the county government's net property tax levy by -4.4% versus prior law once fully in effect (2028, since delayed to 2029 by HEA 1210). (Indiana Legislative Services Agency)

Sources