Cook wins GOP nod in re-election bid for Westfield mayor

Westfield Mayor Andy Cook won the Republican nomination for a third term late Tuesday to continue his vision to develop Westfield into a youth sports center with cultural attractions.

He was mostly successful, too, in his fight to retain most of the incumbent City Council members, against a slate of candidates challenging Westfield's use of tax incentives. No Democrats filed to run in the primary.

Concerned by debt, continued spending and lack of transparency, Pike Township firefighter Jeff Harpe launched a challenge against the two-term mayor and his allies.

Results showed Cook earned 61 percent of the votes Tuesday.

"I think our people overwhelmingly said we're on the right track," Cook told about 80 supporters sipping cocktails and eating catered hors d'oeuvres at Bridgewater Country Club's clubhouse. "And we've done many bold things. We'll probably continue to do so."

He's championed the $49 million Grand Park sports campus and wants to financially back an adjacent, privately built $25.7 million indoor soccer arena. He also wants to move forward with long-discussed plans to fund an estimated $25 million park-plaza at Grand Junction.

At BoomBozz Craft Pizza and Taphouse, Harpe told supporters, "We gave it our best shot."

"I like the fact that we got voters to come out and we brought awareness to the situations facing the city," he said. "I hope more people get involved and pay attention to how their money is being spent. And hopefully the city government changes the way it does things, creating more transparency and listening to the citizens."

In the end, Harpe said, money played a huge role in the race. In the waning days of the race, the mayor received a $99,070 donation from the Shamrock Political Action Committee that he leveraged for an aggressive TV, radio and print campaign for himself and candidates he supports.

The PAC was created by Hamilton County GOP chairman Pete Emigh and now is controlled by Cook's son, Brian.

Harpe had been going door to door to talk to voters directly. He had only about $7,000 to spend on advertising, most of which he self-funded.

On the City Council, just one incumbent failed to win back a seat: Bob Smith, an ally of the mayor, was ousted by Joe Edwards.

Incumbents Cindy Spoljaric and Jim Ake took the at-large race, where voters elected two candidates. Steve Hoover trumped Bob Beaudry; Chuck Lehman prevailed over Daniel McKinney and Bobby Smith; and Robert Horkay defeated Brian Ferguson.

Call Star reporter Chris Sikich at (317) 444-6036, follow him at Twitter.com/ChrisSikich or Facebook.com/ChrisSikich.