Wells County councilman wins caucus for state Senate seat

BLUFFTON, Ind. – A Wells County councilman won the election to fill the seat of the late David Ford in the state Senate.\nThe state Republican Party said Travis Holdman of Markle was elected Saturday over three other candidates during a caucus of GOP precinct committee members at Bluffton High School. Holdman won a majority on the fourth ballot. Holdman, 57, is a corporate consultant and attorney specializing in estate planning. He will represent District 19, which includes all or parts of Adams, Allen, Blackford, Grant and Wells counties in northeastern Indiana, for a term that ends November 2010.\nFord was a Republican from Hartford City who died March 5 after suffering from pancreatic cancer.