Republican candidate charged with murdering his wife with a flowerpot wins town primary from a jail cell

• Andrew Wilhoite won a GOP primary for one of the three open seats on a local township board in Indiana.
• Wilhoite is currently in jail facing charges for the murder of his wife in March.

An Indiana man accused of murdering his wife and dumping her body in a creek has won a Republican primary election for a local township board position while in jail.

In the Tuesday primary, Andrew Wilhoite, 40, from Lebanon, Indiana, received 60 of the 276 total votes, securing his position as one of three GOP candidates on the ballot in November, Boone county election results showed.

In March, Wilhoite was charged with killing his wife, 41-year-old Elizabeth "Nikki" Wilhoite, after police accused him of fatally striking her head with a gallon-sized concrete flower pot during a dispute, the Indianapolis Star reported.

Police said that Wilhoite initially lied about her whereabouts but later admitted to killing her and dumping her body over the side of a bridge.

A week before her death, the Indianapolis Star reported that breast cancer patient Nikki Wilhoite had completed a final round of chemotherapy and filed for a legal separation from her husband after finding out he was having an affair.

Her body was found by police on March 26, partially submerged in about three feet of water.

Because Wilhoite has only been charged, but not convicted, of the crime, he is still allowed to run for local office. However, if he is convicted of a felony before the November election, he will be removed from the ballot.

"Under our legal system, every person is innocent until proven guilty," Brad King, co-director of the Indiana Election Division, told the Indianapolis Star.

"If a candidate is ultimately convicted, then depending upon the timing of that conviction, the person can be replaced on the ballot by the political party that has a vacancy."

Wilhoite won his Republican primary on Tuesday for one of the three open seats on the Clinton Township Board.

Only three candidates were running in the Republican primary race, and no Democratic candidates were on the ballot, according to the Indianapolis Star.

Andrew Wilhoite has been incarcerated in the Boone County Jail ever since his arrest, and his next court hearing is scheduled for May 27, the paper said.

If he is ultimately convicted of first-degree murder, he could face up to life in prison, or even the death penalty, according to Indiana state law.