Vonderheide, Uebelhor vie for Dubois County District 2 commissioner nomination

Dubois County Republicans are facing a direct choice for District 2 county commissioner between Dean Vonderheide and Doug Uebelhor, a contest that will help decide who has a hand in county roads, spending, properties and long-term growth.

The winner of the Republican nomination will move into the May 5 primary with a real claim on one of the three commissioner seats that run county government. In Indiana, county commissioners serve four-year terms, must live in the district they represent and make up the executive board responsible for county business. In Dubois County, that means authority over county properties, roads and bridges, voting precincts, drainage issues, salaries, solid waste and support for parks and recreation.

That makes District 2 more than a line on a ballot. The commissioner board meets on the first and third Monday of each month, and its decisions reach well beyond Jasper. They affect daily life in Huntingburg, Ferdinand, Holland and the unincorporated parts of the county through road maintenance, facility oversight and the budgets that steer county services.

Vonderheide brings the profile of Jasper’s mayor, a role he planned to leave effective March 31 after seven years in office, saying he was stepping down to focus on his health and family. His candidacy gives primary voters a chance to move a city executive into county government, where the job shifts from municipal administration to countywide infrastructure and spending decisions.

Uebelhor enters the race with county experience of his own. He serves on the Dubois County Council at-large, was elected in 2016 and previously sat on the county commission from 2010 to 2014. That background gives him familiarity with the county budget and the commissioner office itself, which is the administrative center of county government.

The filing window for the 2026 primary closed at noon on Friday, February 6, and the county’s sample-ballot page points to the May 5 primary as the election that will matter. Voter registration closes April 6, leaving the final stretch to settle turnout in a ballot organized by party and precinct.

With only two Republican contenders for the District 2 nomination, the race is less about campaign theater than about who voters trust to manage county government when roads need work, invoices need approval and growth pressures keep building across Dubois County.