The young man, wearing blue jeans and a long-sleeve T-shirt, walked up the driveway and approached a brown-haired woman climbing into her van. Before he got too close, he looked back, shrugged his shoulders and then proceeded to introduce himself.
"Hi, I just wanted to give you this," he said, handing a blue slip of paper to the woman, "and ask for your support for Kris Bilbrey for Delaware County Clerk."
"Oh, never heard of him," the woman said.
"Uh, that would be me," he responded.
Kristopher Bilbrey, or Kris, leaned into the van and introduced himself to each passenger. After shaking a couple of hands, he walked back into the street and sighed in relief.
"That went pretty well," he said.
Bilbrey is running for Delaware County Clerk of Circuit Court as a Democrat. He is also a 19-year-old freshman psychology major, a drummer in a local band and an avid movie-watcher who hopes to view every rental in Blockbuster's catalog.
Instead, he would administer court records, issue documents related to court cases and handle court records as well as having the deciding vote on the county's election board. First, however, he's got to win - a task made more difficult, he said, because of his age. "As soon as I filed, it kind of caused an uproar because of my age," Bilbrey said. "What they were afraid of was that I would have no experience in the clerk's office. "No one who goes into the job (of clerk) the first time has experience - you learn as you go." Bilbrey said Democrats in Delaware County weren't exactly pleased with him after he filed to run. Wenger said most Democratic officials didn't want Shepperd to face a primary challenge. It would only force her to spend money and energy she otherwise wouldn't need to. But Dennis Tyler, chairman of the Democratic party in Delaware County, contends Bilbrey has been accepted. "We're not favoring any candidate over the other," Tyler said. "I've always been a strong proponent of bringing young, quality people into the party." Bilbrey said he hopes to learn the nuances of the position from non-elected personnel in the office, and he said he is qualified. He cited years of experience campaigning for other candidates and plenty of time helping his mother and grandmother at the Justice Center. He speaks vividly of his experiences campaigning for Democrats in Delaware County. He's been knocking on doors and "manning the polls" since he was 7 years old. His mother, Rhonda DeFrees, works in the prosecutor's office. His grandmother, Claudette King, works in the public defender's office and has recently run for county recorder and city clerk, although she lost both contests. Bilbrey said he decided to run for clerk because his grandmother couldn't. "To run, she would have had to quit her job," Bilbrey said, "She felt she couldn't run and work in the office that dealt with both Republicans and Democrats." THE MAIN ISSUE If he wins, Bilbrey says his main goal will be to "protect the privacy" of voters in Delaware County - something he says Wenger has attempted to violate during her term. Earlier this year, Wenger was mired in controversy after supporting the establishment of a computerized database that would give all candidates access to citizens' voting information - including names, addresses, and the last four digits of their Social Security, driver's license or DMV identification numbers. The inclusion of the numbers, Wenger said, was meant to reduce voter fraud. Wenger said it was also meant to make lists of registered voters more readily available to third-party candidates. She said many candidates come to her unable to get similar lists from party headquarters. "(The lists) are controlled by the party bosses, and they release that information to the candidate they want it to be released to," she said. Tyler said the Democratic headquarters only keeps people's names, addresses and their voting history. Many Delaware County residents, including Bilbrey and Tyler, are opposed to the publication of Social Security Numbers because of what they consider a strong possibility of identity theft. Although Wenger admits voting against the measure earlier this year because of unfavorable public opinion (a decision which, she said, kept Delaware County "in the dark ages" politically), critics say her goal is to eventually make the computer records available to all candidates. "That (information) is really nobody else's business," Bilbrey said. Wenger said she thinks it would be nearly impossible to steal someone's identity using the last four digits of their Social Security, driver's license or identification numbers. THE CAMPAIGN In preparation for the May 7 primary, Bilbrey has printed 500 signs, bought a billboard at the corner of 23rd Street and Cowan Road and hopes to campaign door-to-door in almost all of Delaware County's 75 voting precincts. Although the stress of the primary campaign "hasn't really hit" yet, Bilbrey said, he has had to learn to manage his time more efficiently during the past month. His girlfriend, Bekah Lawson, who helps him manage his campaign by walking door-to-door and passing out flyers with him, said he is much busier. "He spends at least a couple hours a night working on the campaign," Lawson said. Bilbrey said he hopes students will not only vote for him in the primary, but also volunteer to help campaign. The candidate has set up an e-mail account (votebilbrey2002@aol.com) so anyone interested can learn about his campaign. Bilbrey said he hopes voters, including his opponent, will begin to take him seriously once they see how hard he is working. Shepperd said she is going to treat this campaign as any other - regardless of her opponent's age. "I have met both Kris and his grandmother," she said. "And although I don't know them all that well, ... I'm certainly running this campaign as I would any other." Above all, Bilbrey said he hopes to enlist the support of his peers en route to what he hopes will be a successful primary. "I'm a Ball State student," Bilbrey said. "Even though the Democratic Party here isn't exactly backing me, I'm hoping other Ball State students will."
Read More
Three Air Jam teams take home the win
October 12, 2012Nineteen teams shimmied, shook and flipped for a sold out John R. Emens Auditorium on Thursday night during the 25th annual Air Jam.
Bill Clinton Speaks at North Central High School
October 12, 2012Former President's Speech Could Have Effect on State Senate Race
