SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Public voter records obtained by Redress South Bend show that St. Joseph County Council member Amy Drake cast a Democratic ballot in Indiana’s 2008 presidential primary, when Indiana Democrats were deciding between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton as the party’s nominee for the general election. Records also show Drake did not vote in a Republican primary for a decade, from 2006 through 2015. At the time of her vote, Drake was living in Fort Wayne, IN (Allen County).
The May 6, 2008, primary was one of the most closely watched Democratic nomination contests in recent history, and Clinton narrowly defeated Obama in Indiana’s primary election.
Drake is currently on the ballot for re-election in the May 5 Republican primary, where she faces Republican challenger Matthew Clayton. Drake was first elected to the St. Joseph County Council in November 2022 as a Republican, defeating Democrat Corey Noland in District B by 35 votes, 3,672 to 3,637, according to official county election results.
Drake has previously made primary voting records an issue in the race. Just last month, in March 2026, Drake wrote that a “normal party” would not try to primary an incumbent “especially with a guy without a Republican record,” and elsewhere said local party leadership had “allowed a non-Republican to run in a primary against me.”
Those claims now face new scrutiny with Drake’s own past voting record publicly available.
Logan Foster
Logan Foster is the founder and editor of Redress South Bend, an independent news outlet covering local government, courts, and public institutions in South Bend and St. Joseph County, Indiana. He reports from primary documents: public records requests, court filings, state audit reports, and campaign finance disclosures. His reporting has examined city and school district payments made without competitive bidding, school board spending, and the records of candidates in county races. Redress South Bend obtained the South Bend Police Department's ShotSpotter coverage map after the department initially denied public access. The outlet is a member of the Society of Professional Journalists and the Online News Association. Reach him at info@redresssouthbend.com
