And then there were eight – Republican candidates for Huntertown Town Council, that is.

The Allen County Election board reduced the number of candidates in the GOP May primary by one Tuesday when it removed Todd Sorg from the ballot after two Huntertown residents, including another candidate, challenged Sorg's candidacy for having voted in the 2008 Democratic primary.

Sorg, a 42-year-old commercial real estate worker, said he is a longtime Republican who switched parties to vote in the competitive Democratic race for president. But the board Tuesday agreed it had no choice but to uphold the challenge because Sorg failed to receive a waiver from county GOP Chairman Steve Shine as required by law.

Sorg said that, at the request of GOP Chairman Steve Shine, he sought permission from City Councilman Mitch Harper, chair of the party's candidate recruitment committee, but never received it. Shine said later Sorg's mostly Republican voting record would have qualified him for permission to run as a Republican.

Responding to other challenges, the board also disqualified five candidates for the Republican state convention. Shawn Heimann, William Johnson, John Benjamin and Carole Maymon were all removed for having voted in the last Democratic primary – something Maymon said she did at the urging of conservative radio talk-show host Rush Limbaugh, whose “Operation Chaos” was intended to influence the Democratic presidential contest.

“The media sometimes encourage people to break the law,” Democratic board member Andy Downs said.

Brandon Holt was removed for not signing a form properly.

In other business, the board fined the county Democratic Party $50 for missing the March 1 deadline for filing its financial report by nine minutes. The board also said it would take action to collect campaign-finance reporting fines previously issued to three former candidates: $1,000 from former Republican County Councilman Mike Cunegin, $821 from former republican Cedar Creek Township Assessor Lori Hammons, and $224 from Byron Peters, former Libertarian City Council candidate.