Laura Pierce Coons
A first-term Blackford County Commissioner for District 2 who lost her bid for a second term — defeated by challenger Shane Smith in the May 5, 2026 Republican primary. Coons is serving out the remainder of her term through the end of 2026 and will not return in 2027. She brings three decades of prior county service across the Recorder's and Clerk of Courts offices, and her tenure was dominated by the county's wind and solar tax-abatement decisions.
The 60-second story
Laura Pierce Coons is the outgoing first-term Republican Blackford County Commissioner for District 2. She won the seat in November 2022 by defeating Democrat Jon Creek 74.8% to 25.2%, but lost her bid for a second term in the May 5, 2026 Republican primary to challenger Shane Smith. She will serve out the remainder of her term through the end of 2026 and will not return in 2027. She also sits on the bodies the three commissioners staff ex officio — the county Drainage Board and Solid Waste Board — and as of mid-2026 remains an active voting member, regularly making and seconding motions.
Across the public record from 2024 through mid-2026, Coons has been a consistent vote in favor of advancing Blackford County's four active wind and solar projects. She voted to approve road-use and decommissioning agreements (RWE on June 3, 2024; the Prairie Creek Wind decommissioning agreement on August 19, 2024; the First Amendment with Prairie Creek Wind on February 3, 2025; the Lake Trout road-use and decommissioning agreement on May 5, 2025), Leeward/Blackford Wind road upgrades and the Resolution 2024-R4 Leeward economic-development contract, and a string of SJCA engineering task orders billing the developers for road inspections. She also voted to open or continue EDA negotiations with RWE's Prairie Creek Phase 2 (January 5, 2026) and EDP Renewables (January 20, 2026), and to seat a committee to update the county's Wind and Solar Ordinance (October 7, 2024).
The single most significant divided vote of her current term came on September 2, 2025, when the board approved an EDP/Teays River reimbursement agreement 2-1. Coons joined Vice President Dan Borgenheimer in favor; President John Lancaster cast the lone dissent, citing a prior promise. The vast majority of commissioner business in this period passed unanimously, with the board frequently operating 2-0 when one member was absent.
On June 15, 2026 — after losing the primary but still in office — Coons voted to adopt Resolution 2026-7 advancing the Prairie Creek Wind Phase 2 EDA and approved an associated 58.8-mile road-upgrade plan (a two-inch HMA overlay), underscoring that the wind/solar buildout she championed in the campaign continued through the close of her term. Other notable late-term votes include a Battery Storage Moratorium (Resolution 2025-R9) and a Data Centers Moratorium (Resolution 2025-R10) on November 3, 2025; a reluctant approval of a $500,000/year Lifeline ambulance contract that same day; a later IU Health Lifeline two-ambulance contract for $1.1 million on February 17, 2026; and the $200,000 purchase of the bank building across from the courthouse on January 20, 2026.
Before her commissioner role, Coons served almost continuously in Blackford County elected offices for nearly three decades — first elected in 1996 as Deputy Recorder, then County Recorder from 1998-2005, Clerk of Circuit and Superior Courts from 2006-2012, and Recorder again from 2013-2016. The 2016 election produced a notable Blackford County result in which Coons (then-Recorder) and her opponent Derinda Thiery Shady (then-Clerk) effectively swapped jobs after Coons won the Clerk seat 3,047 votes to 1,751 (63.5% to 36.5%). Coons is a 1978 Indiana Business College (Marion) business-degree graduate who worked in customer service for Farm Bureau Insurance for 15 years before beginning her county-government career in 1996. She is a Montpelier resident and has served on the Blackford County Schools board and Blackford County Community Foundation.
Quick facts
- 2026 primary result Lost the May 5, 2026 Republican primary for a second term to Shane Smith.
- Residence Montpelier, Indiana (Blackford County)
- Education Blackford High School; Business Degree, Indiana Business College, Marion (May 1978)
- Profession Career Blackford County elected official; previously Customer Service Representative, Farm Bureau Insurance (15 years, 1978-1996)
- Office Commissioner, Blackford County — District 2 (since Jan. 2023). Term ends Dec. 31, 2026 — not returning.
- Prior offices Deputy Recorder (1996-1997); Recorder (1998-2005); Clerk of Circuit and Superior Courts (2006-2012); Recorder (2013-2016)
- Last election Nov 2022 general: defeated Democrat Jon Creek 74.8% to 25.2%
- Civic boards Blackford County Schools (former); Blackford County Community Foundation (former)
- Salary (2021) $6,741 (commissioner stipend; part-time position)
- Contact lcoons@blackfordcounty.in.gov
Three things voters should know
She lost her 2026 primary and is leaving office
Coons was defeated by challenger Shane Smith in the May 5, 2026 three-way Republican primary for the District 2 commissioner seat. She serves out her term through the end of 2026 and will not return in 2027.
Wind and solar tax-abatement deals are the central policy question of the race
Four developers are in active negotiations with Blackford County: Leeward Renewable Energy (Blackford Wind and Blackford Solar projects), EDF Renewables (Lake Trout Solar Project), RWE (Prairie Creek Wind Project Phases 1 and 2), and EDP (Teays River Wind Farm LLC). Coons frames continued negotiation as a path to county growth and tax-base expansion: 'Blackford County needs to grow, be successful and thrive.' Her two challengers want stronger negotiating posture — Smith argues 'outside companies are looking for tax breaks, and Indiana counties give away more than they get back.' This is the single sharpest policy contrast in the primary.
Three decades in Blackford County government
Coons has held county elected office almost continuously since 1996: Deputy Recorder (1996-1997), Recorder (1998-2005), Clerk of Circuit and Superior Courts (2006-2012), Recorder again (2013-2016), and Commissioner (2023-present). Across these roles she has worked under multiple county courthouse administrations and knows the county's institutional structure as well as anyone in office. In her own framing during the 2026 primary: 'With my background, knowledge and experience in county government, I feel I would be the best candidate for this position.'
Biography
Laura Pierce Coons was born in approximately 1959 and grew up in Blackford County, Indiana. She graduated from Blackford High School and attended Indiana Business College in Marion, Indiana, receiving a Business Degree on May 31, 1978. She began employment at Farm Bureau Insurance in Grant County in June 1978 as a Claims Secretary, where she worked for seven years before transferring to Farm Bureau Insurance in Blackford County, where she worked for an additional eight years as a Customer Service Representative and as the Blackford County Incorporated Secretary.
She entered Blackford County government in 1996, when she was elected to the position of Deputy Recorder under then-Recorder Yvonne Farling. She held that role through 1997. In 1998, she succeeded Farling as Blackford County Recorder and served in that capacity through 2005 — three two-year-equivalent terms. In 2006 she was elected Blackford County Clerk of Circuit and Superior Courts (commonly called the Clerk of Courts), a position she held through 2012.
In 2013 she returned to the Recorder's office for a second tenure, serving as Blackford County Recorder from 2013 through 2016. The 2016 election produced a particularly distinctive Blackford County outcome: Coons (the sitting Recorder) and Derinda Thiery Shady (the sitting Clerk of Courts) effectively switched offices after Coons defeated Shady for the Clerk seat 3,047 votes to 1,751, while Shady won the Recorder position. The Star Press summed up the result eight years later as 'then-County Recorder Laura Pierce Coons and then-County Clerk Derinda Thiery Shady switched jobs, with the approval of Blackford County voters.'
After approximately six years out of elected office (2017-2022), Coons ran for Blackford County Commissioner District 2 in 2022, defeating Democrat Jon Creek by a wide margin (74.8% to 25.2%) in the November 8, 2022 general election. She took office in January 2023, joining President John Lancaster and Vice President Dan Borgenheimer on the three-member Board of Commissioners. The board serves as the executive branch of county government, approves all county contracts, oversees county personnel (other than wage-setting, which the County Council handles), and serves as both the county Drainage Board and Solid Waste Board.
Coons is a Montpelier resident — Montpelier is the second-largest town in Blackford County, located in the northern part of the county along the Salamonie River. She has served on the Blackford County Schools board and as a board member at the Blackford County Community Foundation. Her board email is lcoons@blackfordcounty.in.gov; she can be reached at the Commissioner's Room of the Blackford County Courthouse, 110 W. Washington Street, Hartford City.
Career
Memberships & affiliations
Blackford County Board of Commissioners (Member), Blackford County Drainage Board (ex officio commissioner role), Blackford County Solid Waste Board (ex officio commissioner role), Blackford County Schools (former board member), Blackford County Community Foundation (former board member)
Potential conflicts the Ledger has flagged
Coons has held Blackford County elected office almost continuously since 1996, rotating through Deputy Recorder, Recorder (twice), Clerk of Circuit and Superior Courts, and Commissioner roles. While each office is a distinct job won at the ballot box, the cumulative pattern is unusual: she has been a continuous fixture in the county courthouse for nearly thirty years across multiple offices. This is normal in small-county Indiana politics — officials commonly rotate through positions because the experienced-and-willing-to-run candidate pool is small — and the practice is fully transparent on the public record. There are no documented ethics complaints against her in any of these roles, and she has not used insider knowledge or institutional access in ways that have drawn public criticism. This is a structural-disclosure observation rather than an alleged violation.
Prior government service
Notable votes
Positions, in their own words
"Blackford County needs to grow, be successful and thrive. There are four companies with projects ... still in negotiations."— Hartford City News-Times candidate Q&A, April 2026
"In my opinion, the county needs to attract more businesses to create more jobs in making our community a better place to live. I believe we need to take an interest in cleaning up the four townships of Blackford County."— Hartford City News-Times candidate Q&A, April 2026
"With my background, knowledge and experience in county government, I feel I would be the best candidate for this position. Thank you for your continued support. I would appreciate your vote on May 5, 2026. Let's keep Blackford County moving into the future."— Hartford City News-Times candidate Q&A, April 2026