While canvassing in Green Acres, Linton, Sparks and his wife Sharon chat with Tammy Thorton, a resident of the neighborhood, about Sparks' campaign and the upcoming election just ten days before Election Day.
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Sparks and former Speaker of the House and 2012 governor candidate, John Gregg, drove around in Green Acres, a newer neighborhood in Linton. Sparks canvassed on the weekends trying to reach out to those who hadn't voted yet and convince them to go to the polls. Gregg would often be present to gain public support for Sparks' campaign.
Sparks is from Linton, Ind., a small rural town in Greene County that was home to about 5,500 people in the 2010 census.
Sparks focused his comments on his concerns for public education in Indiana. Sparks ran for the statehouse District 62. The other participants were Jim Mann, who ran for Indiana House District 46, and Daymon Brodhacker, who ran for Indiana House District 60. Each candidate ran with concerns for public education and attended forums in Bloomington, since their respective districts included parts of Monroe County. Twenty-eight supporters and citizens attended the forum.
Sparks and two other candidates spoke at a forum hosted by the Indiana Coalition for Public Education for any local legislative candidates Monday, Oct. 20 in the Bloomington City Hall Council Chambers.
Jon Sutton, Sparks' head campaign manager, is an Indiana University senior who took a semester off to focus on the campaign. His office in the Monroe County Democrats headquarters in Bloomington is cluttered with empty paper and coffee cups with a dried brown ring in the bottoms. Sutton and his co-manager often worked 10-hour days, six days a week. In the corner leaned a stale stack of pizza boxes. "The rewards points from that have been the highlight of my employment," Sutton said after the election.
Sparks' interns worked exclusively in the Monroe County Democrats headquarters in Bloomington, Ind. Jessica Witczak and each of the other interns made phone calls to residents of District 62 to gain support for the Democratic Party and Sparks' campaign. The calls encouraged residents to vote so that they could have a say in who represented them as well as to vote for Sparks and his campaign.
Election signs lined the grass in front of the Monroe County Democrats headquarters on Bloomington's South side.
Linton Mayor John Wilkes comforts Sparks in the final moments of the campaign. Twenty-six miuntes later, the race for the next House Representative for Distrcit 62 was called for Sparks' opponent, Matt Ubelhor. The final vote tally was 41 percent Sparks and 55 percent Ublehor. The margin of defeat was greater this campaign than Sparks' previous challenge to Ubelhor two years earlier in the 2012 election.
In Linton, Sparks' headquarters or an art studio rented out by the State Democratic Party, Sparks' supporters and family gathered around to keep updated on election results Tuesday, Nov. 4. The studio had no computers or ways to access the Internet so vote tallies were monitored using family members' iPhones. Terri Neighbors, Sparks' treasurer, used a borrowed computer to check the scores throughout the night.
Jeff Sparks, statehouse candidate and Principal of Linton-Stockton Junior High, sips his morning coffee as he explains his daily duties at school. Sparks ran for the 2012 election as a rookie and lost by a little over 1,500 votes. This year he ran again against his former incumbent, Matt Ubelhor, and hoped to improve the standards for the public school systems in Indiana.
While the election was over, Sparks' job as Principal of Linton-Stockton Junior High was not. No longer campaigning, Sparks is back to his usual life of being a principal and role model and will continue to fulfill that role. Although he won't have the loudest voice for a higher public education, he will still continue to strive for the best possibilities for his school and students.