The Allen County Democratic Party is calling on the Allen County Republican Party to release its precinct chair voter list for this week’s upcoming caucuses to replace Fort Wayne City Clerk Lana Keesling and Allen County Councilman Josh Hale.
Allen County Democratic Party News release:
ACGOP holding single-candidate caucus for Clerk, no candidates publicized for County Council
Fort Wayne, Indiana (January 12, 2026) – The Allen County Democratic Party is calling on the Allen County Republican Party to release its precinct chair voter list for this week’s upcoming caucuses to replace Fort Wayne City Clerk Lana Keesling and Allen County Councilman Josh Hale.
This call comes as both caucuses are less than a week away, and neither the GOP nor the media have made an effort to publicize the voting lists. It is also important to recall the GOP’s insistence on public precinct lists during ACDP’s 2024 mayoral caucus to replace Mayor Tom Henry. At the time, Republican Chairman Steve Shine said he would make the Republican list public if the roles were reversed. Yet as time winds down, the GOP list is nowhere to be found, and Republicans are operating without transparency.
In 2024, ACDP also set precedent for robust, consistently updated public candidate lists in an effort to inform the broader community of the process, since it didn’t involve a public election. Shine and the GOP are not leading a public or robust process. The caucus to replace Keesling involves a single candidate who is endorsed by Keesling, and as of this release no candidates are publicly vying to replace Hale.
“There seems to be a complete disregard for public interest coming from the Republican Party, despite holding caucuses to replace multiple local government officials this week,” said ACDP Chairman Chad Wierzbinski. “Neither caucus has any competition, and one has no public candidates at all. Chairman Shine was quite outspoken in 2024 about the need for transparency when parties hold caucuses, and now he is failing to meet his own standard. We look forward to the expedient release of the voter lists.”
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