Last updated: Dec 17, 2024

• Oct 4, 2024. County officials in Indiana learn Juneteenth by any other name isn’t Juneteenth, By Laura Lane, Herald-Times

Sept 17, 2024. Brown County Democrat: Letter: … Local GOP needs leadership change.  We need a change in the leadership of the Brown County Republican Party …  Mark Bowman cannot be trusted to lead our party, and we must remove him from political office. We cannot have a leader of the Republican Party in Brown County who is at odds with our very own candidates. Besides the GOP rules that explicitly forbid this kind of conduct, it violates common decency. It is time for Brown County Republicans to take back control of our own party and clean house.”  PDF 20240918 Local GOP needs leadership change

• • Election of Offices in March 2025.  IRSC Rule 4-7.  Elected and appointed precinct committeemen and their vice-precinct committeemen are eligible to vote in the election of the County Chairman, County Vice-Chairman, County Secretary, and County Treasurer. o No proxies are allowed to participate in this election (IRSC Rule 1-27).

July 2, 2024. Herald Times, Bloomington by Laura Lane. PDF: Jerry Pittman, outgoing Brown County commissioner, pleads guilty OWI 

• Link to the article

May 29, 2024.  Herald Times, Bloomington by Laura Lane. Brown County official accused of trying to get names of potential jurors for his OWI trial    

• • “Court documents indicate that on May 6, Brown Circuit Court bailiff Michael Foutch contacted Bartholomew Superior Court Judge James Worton, appointed to oversee the case, “regarding contact from the defendant (Brown County commissioner Jerry Lee Pittman) requesting access to the potential jury list in June.”
  • Article posted at Yahoo News
  • Court Records:  MyCase.IN.gov  Case Number: 07C01-2308-CM-000308
• May 22, 2024. Brown County Democrat: Letter,  by Interim Commissioner Blake Wolpert. “America dealing with election’s consequences”
  • “Then there’s the curious case of trading Jerry Pittman for Tim Clark. This, of course, goes back to my first point. Democrats have sent Clark to the general election in the fall. So we lose one of the premier statesmen in Brown County government history and replace him with a serial analyzer.”  
  • Nov 12, 2008. Blakes Wolpert’s comments in a Letter in the Democrat after his defeat for reelection to commissioner. “With the apocalypse in full swing, the anti-christ headed to the Oval Office, a democratically controlled Congress, and liberal judiciary systematically dismantling the United States Constitution, there’sno  place like Brown County to spend the end of days.”  

• May 7, 2024 Primary.  Election results by precincts.  Includes offices, precinct chairs and delegates.
  • Primary Results. 2024 Primary Election Results —  County says YES to Referendum – Brown County Democrat
  • Ben Phillips was elected as convention delegate as was Joy Martin.
  • Cindy Rose Wolpert, a long-term precinct committeewoman, was defeated by Charles Shaw.
• May 5, 2024. Open Letter to the local GOP Leadership by long-time precinct chair Ben Phillips. Sent via email and also posted at Brown County Matters
  • PDF Copy; May 5, 2024, Ben Phillips Open letter to the Brown County Republican Central Committee
    • “Again, WHY has the Central Committee thrown their full support to a person showing utter disregard for public safety, accuses law enforcement of making a mistake by charging him, of manipulating the legal process by jury trial scheduled after the election.  Brown County Republican Central Committee can and should do better for the voters.  This support is doing a disservice to the residents of Brown County with the support of a candidate using such poor judgment.”

Feb 19, 2024. Election Board Meeting – Candidate Challenge.  The Election Board, by unanimous vote, rejected the challenge by the local GOP Chair – Mark Bowman who was represented by Cindy Rose Wolpert, on the qualifications of Tim J. Clark.  Mrs. Wolpert acknowledged that she is an attorney. State law (not the local party)  determines eligibility (two recent primary votes). I have consistently voted in the primaries as a Republican. When this standard is met, the opinion and approval of the Brown County GoP Central Committee regarding “good standing” is irrelevant.  

Prior Controversy

April 27, 2021.  Post on GOP Facebook page prompts questions, by Sara Clifford, April 27, 2021, Brown County Democrat newspaper. Summary from an article posted on the Brown County Republican Facebook page and response by Mark Bowman – Party Chairman.

• • Alex Miller called it “a disgusting essay, held up by the Brown County GOP as something to contemplate as a reasonable perspective.” He asked local Republican officials to speak out if it doesn’t match their views and to speak up for other Republicans whose opinions he says aren’t listened to by party leadership.
  • The Brown County Republican Party does not have a local party platform; it follows the state and national platforms, he said. …. “And I would never try and attempt to speak for all Republicans, even if it’s on a local basis, especially with what’s going on right now,” he said. “People’s feelings and ideas are all over the place, even in the Republican Party, and I would never try to take a position for all of them.”

July 20, 2021. Letter: Does the local GOP exemplify conservative values? By Sherrie Mitchell

• • The GOP “Black Dilemma” post on Facebook. What a gem this one is. “Probably because it was controversial to some people.” “Especially the negative people.” Is it a conservative value to believe that every Black American is “socially incompatible with other races”? Or maybe I just have “my panties in a wad.”

July 13, 2020 Letter: Response to letter about GOP post, other issues by Blake Wolpert. To the editor: At the risk of getting into a lifelong point and counter-point with Sherrie Mitchell, let me address her letter to the editor…

July 6, 2021.  Letter_ Does Brown County GOP respect elections by Alex Miller – Brown County Democrat  By  Alex Miller 

• • Over the last few weeks, we’ve heard a position from and a rebuttal to GOP precinct committeeman (PC) Ben Phillips and his vice-PC Jenni Voris regarding the disturbing article posted to the GOP’s now defunct Facebook page in April and the lack of response from party leaders on the matter.
  • If you’re a Republican interested in running for office, but aren’t sure how to start, feel free to call me. I’d love to help you restore democracy to our party.

 June 29, 2021. Letter: Response to GOP letter last week by Blake Wolpert by Sherrie Mitchell

• • Wolpert attacked the messenger. He called Ben Phillips and Jenni Voris mentally unstable because he didn’t agree with their opinion of Republican Party chair, Mark Bowman, and his wife, Robyn Rosenberg. He further stated that they should be pitied for their illness.

  • These are the exact tactics that Phillips and Voris were telling you about in their letter to the editor regarding the leadership in the Republican Party. This is your proof of the ill-mannered behavior within the party.

June 29, 2021. Letter: Suggestion for a way to vet future candidates by Bill Austin

• • The two letters I would identify were from Blake and Ben/Jenni. I think, from those letters, we could now say there are two positions. As we go forward with more elections, I think we should ask that candidates take a position on this: supporting Blake’s viewpoint or Ben/Jenni’s viewpoint. That seems like a fair question to me.

June 29, 2021. Letter: Response to letter about Republican Party members by Deb Noe, vice chairman, Brown County Republican Committee and vice precinct committeeman, Hamblen 3

• • I asked several fellow Republicans about their thoughts on the matter. The few who saw it had no problem with it. 

June 22, 2021.  Letter: Unfair attacks directed by Republican letter-writers by Blake Wolpert 

• • So this great family, Mark, Robyn and Tanner, who offer so much to the community, celebrate not only Christmas and Hanukkah but also Kwanzaa as a tribute to Mark’s war hero great-great-grandfather, are being maligned and harassed by this uninformed duo of Ben Phillips and Jenni Voris.
  • Ben and Jenni are obviously not aging well. Their confused thinking is a cause for concern. Instead of lashing out, I feel like healing will more likely begin if we recognize this duo may have other issues.

June 15, 2021. Letter: ‘A good start would be a bold and public apology’ By Randy Dillinger

• • To the editor: We are Republican Precinct Committee members, and we are disturbed and angered by the actions of Brown County’s Republican Party leadership ...

  • We have a call to action for the current elected precinct committeemen and their appointed vice committeemen listed below. They need to speak up and publicly announce in the newspaper where they stand. Either denounce the actions of the party chairman and his wife, or continue to sit idle and say nothing. Saying nothing means they support their actions. Precinct committees are elected by the people in their voting precinct, so it is only fair that voters know where they stand.

    • Hamblen 1: Cynthia Rose Wolpert / Blake Wolpert

    • Hamblen 2: Mark Bowman / Tanner Bowman 

    • Hamblen 3: Phil Stephens / Deborah Noe

    • Jackson 1: Deborah Goodrich / Darren Byrd

    • Jackson 2: Diana McDonald Biddle / Scott Rudd

    • Jackson 3: Sandy Higgins / Jamie Voils

    • Jackson 4: Larry Gardner / Herb Ross

    • Washington 1: Dave Redding / Keith Baker

    • Washington 2: Mike Magner / Brandon Magner

    • Washington 3: Ted Adams / Robyn Rosenberg

    • Washington 4: Brad Stogsdill

    • Van Buren: Ben Phillips / Jenny Voris

New Facebook page:  Republicans of Brown County Indiana – Not affiliated with the former Brown County Republican FB page or its administrators.

• • A social club dedicated to promoting republican ideals, ethical and transparent government, thoughtful conversation, local candidate recruitment, and community leadership.
     

• • In recent weeks the Republican Party has been caught up in some serious issues. I don’t intend to rehash those here. I think those of us who have been a part of the Republican Party need to watch now and see how this is handled by our leaders — those elected, appointed and self-proclaimed. You have chosen to be a leader. Think of it this way (I had to look up the exact quote): “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”

May 4, 2021. BCD.  Local Republicans say ‘disgusting’ post doesn’t represent them  Sara Clifford – May 4, 2021

• • An essay titled “The Black Dilemma” was posted to the page on Saturday, April 24 and was no longer posted as of Sunday morning.  … The essay, falsely attributed to a Baltimore Sun reporter, is about Black people’s economic and social disparities compared to white people
• Quotes from the article:

  • “For almost 150 years the United States has been conducting an interesting experiment. The subjects of the experiment: black people and working-class whites. The hypothesis to be tested: Can a people taken from the jungles of Africa and forced into slavery be fully integrated as citizens in a majority white population?” one of the opening paragraphs reads.

    “Through the years, too many black people continue to show an inability to function and prosper in a culture unsuited to them,” a later paragraph reads. “Detroit is bankrupt, the south side of Chicago is a war zone, and the vast majority of black cities all over America are beset by degeneracy and violence. And blacks never take responsibility for their failures. Instead, they lash out in anger and resentment.”

    Further down it says: “The experiment has failed. Not because of white culture, or white privilege, or white racism. The fundamental problem is that American black culture has evolved into an un-fixable and crime ridden mess. They do not want to change their culture or society, and expect others to tolerate their violence and amoral behavior. They have become socially incompatible with other races by their own design, not because of the racism of others, but by their own hatred of non-blacks.”

  • Right under the name “Brown County Indiana Republicans,” the post starts with: “Just a perspective; the facts as presented by a liberal newspaper. Well worth reading.
  • County council President Dave Redding hadn’t read but a couple lines of the post and stopped. “This is disgusting. I don’t even want to let the rest of whatever that article said in my mind” was his reaction to it, he said.

Democrat – Facebook Post of the article.

Apr 30, 2021. Indy Star / The Herald Times .  Racist post on Brown County GOP Facebook elicits bipartisan backlash  By Boris Ladwig

Apr 27, 2021.  BCD. Post on GOP Facebook page prompts questions, By Sara Clifford – 4/27/21 5:51 PM

• • Brown County Republican Party Chairman Mark Bowman said Monday that it was not a statement from the Republican Party, even though it was posted on the party’s page. … He knows who posted it, but would not share that person’s name. … “Once it was realized it was on there, it was taken down,” he said. … Asked why it was taken down, he said, “probably because it was controversial to some people, I would imagine.”
  • The Brown County Republican Party does not have a local party platform; it follows the state and national platforms, he said.

April 27, 2021. Letter: ‘Brown County GOP shares white supremacist fodder’ by Alex Miller

Letter_ ‘Brown County GOP shares white supremacist fodder’ by Alex Miller – Brown County Democrat

• • I have reached a breaking point here. Every resident of our county should be aware of an inexcusable post that the Brown County GOP shared as a “very well written assessment” of U.S. race relations on their Facebook page on April 24 (link below). Since the group deletes all comments that are not praise, this is my last resort.