About Leah Beyer — Bartholomew County Council District 2
Bartholomew County Council · District 2

Leah Beyer

Council Member & Council President — delivering results for Bartholomew County families since 2023.


Some people say we need “new leadership.” Let’s set the record straight.

One term in office isn’t too much experience, it’s just a beginning of a proven track record. In three years, Leah lowered property tax rates, funded road improvements without a wheel tax, modernized family leave for county employees, and helped land a major manufacturing employer, all without raising local taxes. That’s not the beginning of a record; that’s a record worth building on. And as for knowing this community: Leah has built her family, her career, and her roots here, in Columbus, in agriculture, in the institutions that make Bartholomew County thrive. Longevity of residence is not the same as readiness to lead.

Leah Beyer, Bartholomew County Council President
Leah Beyer Council Member & President · District 2

A Record Built Here, For Here

Leah Beyer is a Columbus, Indiana resident, a Council President, a mother, a farmer, and a professional who has spent her career turning complex challenges into concrete results for global companies and now for her county.

She and her husband, Matt, have raised their family in Columbus since 2012. Their son, Brady, competes as a Division I swimmer at the University of Cincinnati. Their daughter, Maddie, has launched both a cosmetology career and her own small business, Pretty Potties, right here in Bartholomew County. These aren’t just family details, they are proof that Leah invests in this community at every level.

A “recovering dairy farmer” whose family still shows Holstein and Jersey cattle at state and national levels, Leah understands what it means to steward land, manage tight budgets, and show up every day for something bigger than yourself.

She serves on the board of the Rural Gone Urban Foundation, championing capable women in rural communities — the same communities she fights for every time she votes on the county council.

Leah Beyer Family, Bartholomew County Council District 2

Why One Term — Well Spent — Is Exactly the Point

01

Momentum, Not Inertia

Real reform takes time to root. Leah built relationships, learned the system, and then changed it from the inside. Re-electing her means the progress on roads, tax rates, and family policy continues, not restarts.

02

Proven, Not Just Promised

Her opponent is asking you to bet on potential. Leah is asking you to bet on results you can verify: lower tax rates, real road funding, new jobs, and modernized county employment policies. One term shows what she does when entrusted with your vote.

03

Long Tenure ≠ Good Judgment

Decades of residence don’t automatically produce good governance. What matters is what you do with your seat. Leah came in with professional skills in strategy, budgeting, and communications and applied them immediately.

04

Deep Roots, Broad Skills

Leah’s roots are here — in Columbus schools, in Indiana agriculture, in local business. But she also brings skills her opponents can’t match: global marketing leadership, large-scale operations, and digital transformation experience.

05

Council President in Year Two

Her colleagues elected her Council President not because she’d been there the longest, but because she’d earned their trust through preparation, collaboration, and leadership. That’s the kind of new leadership Bartholomew County already has.

06

Built-In Accountability

A second term is a referendum on the first. Leah has nowhere to hide from her record and she doesn’t want to. Every vote, every budget, every policy is on the table. That transparency is exactly what good local government looks like.

What Three Years Actually Looks Like

Property Tax Rate Reductions

Helped guide county budgets that resulted in lower property tax rates even as the county continued to fund roads, public safety, courts, and employee compensation.

Road Funding Without a Wheel Tax

Worked with fellow councilors to fund road improvements without imposing a new wheel tax on residents, protecting taxpayers from a new recurring fee.

Maternity & Paternity Leave for County Employees

Partnered with County Commissioners to implement family leave policies, modernizing county employment to support working families and strengthen retention.

Irresistible Foods Economic Development Win

Supported recruitment efforts that brought Irresistible Foods to Bartholomew County, producing Grillo’s Pickles and King’s Hawaiian rolls and creating new jobs without raising local tax rates.

Public Safety & Justice System Investment

Championed funding for sheriff operations, veterans court, addiction-focused problem-solving courts, and coroner services because public safety is the foundation of community trust.

Juvenile Services Reform

Worked collaboratively with county leadership to advance solutions for youth housed and educated in aging facilities addressing a long-overlooked challenge with practical resolve.

Skills That Serve the County, Not Just a Resume

Zoetis Animal Health
Head of U.S. Livestock Marketing Communications & Operations
Leading strategy, communications, and operations for the U.S. livestock business at one of the world’s leading animal health companies.
Corteva Agriscience
U.S. Strategic Integrated Marketing Leader
Led a team responsible for marketing communications strategy across crop protection, seeds, and specialty businesses — managing complex, multi-stakeholder operations under tight budgets.
Elanco Animal Health
Global Digital & Corporate Communications Leadership
Drove large-scale digital transformation, global brand launches, and post-acquisition integration, the kind of change management that translates directly to modernizing county government.
Rural Gone Urban Foundation
Board Member
Serving women in rural communities, the same communities Leah champions as a county council member.

Why Corporate Experience Makes a Better County Councilor

Local government is a budget problem, a communications challenge, and a people-management exercise — all at once. Leah’s career has been spent doing exactly that at scale.

She knows how to read a budget line and ask hard questions. She knows how to build coalitions across competing interests. She knows how to communicate clearly with constituents who need answers, not jargon.

Her opponent’s argument is that growing up here is a qualification. Leah’s argument is that growing up here, building a career here, raising a family here, and then bringing decades of professional expertise to the table is the fuller story.

“I didn’t come to this office to find my footing. I came with the skills to serve from day one and a first term that proves it.”

Invested Here. At Every Level.

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Agricultural Heritage

A proud “recovering dairy farmer,” Leah and her family remain active in the agricultural community showing Holstein and Jersey cattle at state and national levels. These roots shape her values every day in office.

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Columbus, Indiana Family

Leah and her husband Matt raised their children through Columbus East High School. Brady and Maddie are building their futures, one as a Division I athlete, one as an entrepreneur right in this community.

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Small Business Supporter

Her daughter Maddie’s launch of Pretty Potties in Columbus isn’t a campaign talking point — it’s a family investment in this county’s entrepreneurial future, and Leah knows exactly what it takes.

Ready to Keep Building?

Three years of results. A mandate to continue. Bartholomew County deserves leadership that’s proven, not a new learning curve.

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