Harding slips past Hash by 21 votes in Bloomfield Ward 3

Dave Harding, a Republican who took the Ward 3 spot for Bloomfield Town Council, offered up a smile and handshake to voter Stephanie Held on Tuesday. (By Sabrina Westfall)

Dave Harding (R) narrowly won a seat on the Bloomfield Town Council for the next four years, edging Paul Hash (D) in the Ward 3 race Tuesday by 21 votes.

Harding brought in 161 votes, while Hash had 140, totaling only a 6.98 percent margin of difference.

"Paul (Hash) is a good fellow ... it (the race) was very close," Harding said after the totals were announced.

"I need to congratulate him on a good, clean campaign. ... It is too bad we can't have four (members) on the council."

Harding congratulated Doug Frye for also nabbing a spot on the town council, as well as thanked the community for their votes.

Harding said he is excited to get started as a member of the council after the first of the year. He has hopes that working alongside Frye and Eric Harrah, the council will be able to make some advancements.

"Between Eric, Doug and myself, I hope we can be a good team and do what we can for the town of Bloomfield," Harding explained.

He is looking forward to learning the "ins and outs" of the town council with time and some training.

"I am excited to get started here in a couple months. I don't have any particular agenda that I am looking at initially to get started on," Harding explained.

Harding stressed the importance of "ways to sell Bloomfield" during his campaign because the town already has a lot going for it, including having a successful school, a complete library and being the county seat.

Due to employment opportunities at WestGate, he said people are generally choosing between Bloomington, Loogootee, Linton and Bloomfield as locations to live.

He added the expansion of I-69 coming south of Bloomfield will be important to bring in new businesses to the area.

"We have talked about growth. It'll be interesting to stay abreast of the growth of WestGate and I-69 a year from now being a reality," Harding said Tuesday night.

He said the town needs to keep a close eye on the sewer system, especially if the town continues to expand.

Harding said he would also like to see about funding for an updated community building.

Harding was a member of the Bloomfield School Board of Trustees for eight years, is on the Farmer's and Mechanics board of directors, and is the manager of Pioneer Hi-Bred International in Worthington.