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DEMS RAISE MORE THAN GOP IN INDIANA CD RACES: Indiana’s Congressional candidates already have collected more than $7 million in donations. Although the figure is well short of 2006’s $18 million take-in, candidates still haven’t hit the most lucrative period of fundraising — the nine months preceding the election. To date, three candidates have broken the $1 million mark (Times of Northwest Indiana), with another two on the brink. .jpg)
All of the top fundraisers so far are in districts with generally uncontested races. Rep. Pete Visclosky, for example, has brought in $1.13 million, compared to challenger Mark Leyva’s $1,550. This year marks the first time Democrats have overtaken the GOP, claiming 65 percent of total donations so far. "If fundraising stays in this mold and things become competitive in seemingly safe Republican-leaning districts, it’s a bad sign for all Republican candidates," Purdue Prof, James McCann said. "And if they’re picking up seats in Indiana, the implication is that they’re picking up seats in a lot of other states too." The percent of funds going to Republicans and Democrats during each election cycle; 2000: Republicans 53 percent, Democrats 47 percent; 2002: Republicans 60 percent, Democrats 40 percent; 2004: Republicans 53 percent, Democrats 47 percent; 2006: Republicans 56 percent, Democrats 44 percent; 2008: Republicans 35 percent, Democrats 65 percent.
EIGHT HOUSE MEMBERS DON’T SEEK RE-ELECTION: Eight House incumbents declined to seek re-election as filing deadline passed on Friday (Howey Politics Indiana). They include: Democrats Joe Micon, Dave Crooks, Phil Hoy and David Orentlicher and Carolene Mays who are seeking the 7th CD. House Republicans decling to run include Eric Gutwein, Mike Ripley and Larry Buell. In the Senate, three senators including Glenn Howard, are retiring. Howard has not attended the Indiana General Assembly this session. Others not seeking re-election include Marvin Riegsecker, Tom Weatherwax and Robert Jackman. House Democrat incumbents facing primary opposition include Linda Lawson, Earl Harris, Charlie Brown, David Niezgodski, Greg Simms, Nancy Dembowski, Shelli VanDenburgh and Bill Crawford. House Republican incumbents facing primary opposition Ed Soliday, Don Lehe, Bill Ruppel, Rich McClain, Greg Stuerwald, Amos Thomas, Ralph Foley, John Ulmer, Dan Leonard, Phyllis Pond, Cindy Noe and Mike Murphy. Senate Republicans facing primary challenges include Luke Kenley, Connie Lawson, Beverly Gard, Teresa Lubbers, and Brent Waltz.
PARTIES DRIFT APART ON KEY ISSUES: As the adjournment deadline for this session draws closer, Republicans and Democrats appear to be moving farther apart when it comes to some major elements of proposals for property tax relief and reform (Associated Press). Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels drew praise from both sides of the aisle when he proposed a sweeping plan last fall, and the Democrat-controlled House and Republican-ruled Senate passed modified versions of parts of it that were quite similar. By mid-session, both had passed bills that would limit property tax bills for homeowners to 1 percent of their home’s assessed value. Both had approved legislation that would have the state absorb the remaining local costs for general school operations, and all property tax levies for child welfare expenses. But now storm clouds are rumbling, and they could spell real trouble for finalizing and passing a plan by the March 14 deadline for ending the session. One red flag popped up recently when House Speaker Patrick Bauer, D-South Bend, strongly suggested that some parts of the plan - primarily a provision in which the state would pick up the remaining 15 percent of school operating costs - might have to wait because of the sluggish economy.
CARSON FUNERAL A PROBLEM FOR ANDRE: Andre Carson’s greatest political asset may be his grandmother’s name, but one of his biggest liabilities is proving to be her funeral (Indianapolis Star). That’s because his family gave a spot in the parade of dignitaries who eulogized Congresswoman Julia Carson to Louis Farrakhan, whom Jewish leaders consider one of America’s leading anti-Semites, gay rights activists consider a homophobe and who famously referred to white people as "devils." .jpg)
In recent weeks, Andre Carson has been reassuring Jewish leaders here and in Washington that Farrakhan’s appearance wasn’t his idea. He has spoken publicly about his distaste for discrimination, homophobia or racism of any kind. He has talked repeatedly of his desire for unity. But the Farrakhan episode also called attention to something that went largely unrecognized before — that Andre Carson is a Muslim and that, if elected March 11, he would be Indiana’s first Muslim representative in Congress and only the second in U.S. history. How his faith will factor with voters, if at all, is unknown. But in a post-September 11 world, it has led some of his own campaign advisers to interject, without being prompted, that Andre Carson is not an Osama bin Laden Muslim. And since the funeral — which included Farrakhan’s own plug for Carson’s candidacy — the young Carson has been trying to explain that he also is not a Louis Farrakhan Muslim. Carson says his faith is just part of who he is. "It is not the totality. Like every other human being, I have various faces," he said. "I am multifaceted."
ELROD, CARSON DEBATE IRAQ ON TV: Candidates for the 7th District congressional seat held by the late Rep. Julia Carson sparred over health care and other issues during a joint television appearance Sunday morning (Indianapolis Star). “We live in the wealthiest nation in the world. It’s unfortunate the wealthiest nation in the world does not provide its citizens with affordable health care,” Democrat Andre Carson, grandson of the late congresswoman, said on WTHR-TV’s “Indiana Insiders” show. Carson said the government needs to provide comprehensive benefits that provide universal coverage to citizens. Republican Jon Elrod said he favors medical savings accounts as part of a bipartisan effort that should include leadership from hospitals and insurers. “I think turning our federal government into a big HMO is a problem,” he said. Elrod, Carson and Libertarian Sean Shepard are on the ballot for the March 11 special election to fill the remainder of Ms. Carson’s term through the end of this year. The primary elections in May will select candidates for the November to fill the next two-year term. On Iraq, all three said the troops need to come home as soon as possible, though all declined to set a date for withdrawal. Elrod said he’s concerned about what happens to the veterans when they return home, because they need access to health care, education and jobs. Carson opposes the war and said, “We don’t need another Vietnam. Our troops have to come home very soon.”
TREASURER CANDIDATES WANTS TO ABOLISH OFFICE: Bob Wichlinski is running for the position of Porter County treasurer — hoping to make the job extinct (Post-Tribune). "The Treasurer’s Office is largely redundant and has, through computerization of the office, established itself such that you can vest the authority of it to the (Auditor’s Office)," said the former Porter Township trustee soon after he finished filing Friday. Wichlinski, 48, wants to be elected to the "unnecessary" office so he can be in the position to facilitate a referendum on departmental consolidation. "It’s going to have to come by virtue of the authority that’s vested to the elected official," Wichlinski said citing Indiana Code 36-1.5. Wichlinski faces former executive deputy auditor and circuit court clerk Dale Brewer in May, assuming neither candidate withdraws from the race by the Monday deadline. Wichlinski has written columns strongly in favor of consolidation for the Post-Tribune’s opinion section. He said he will not submit columns during the campaign. Brewer, 53, said she is in favor of streamlining. However, "at this stage, we have a tax problem," Brewer said. "I’m not sure this is a good idea at the moment."
Indiana General Assembly
KENLEY DISCUSSES STATE PICKING UP TEACHER INSURANCE: The General Assembly could consider putting Indiana teachers on a state health insurance plan as it looks to soften the blow of property tax caps on school budgets (Pentacuff, Marion Chronicle-Tribune). Luke Kenley, R-Noblesville, chairman of the Tax and Fiscal Policy committee in the Indiana Senate, made the suggestion Saturday at this year’s final Third House session in Marion. He said the proposed caps are projected to cost Indiana schools revenue. Locally, financially strapped Marion Community Schools would lose about $231,000 in 2009 and about $517,000 in 2010 as the law would be phased-in. Under current plans by Senate Republicans, schools would be provided with a rebate of 60 percent of the revenue loss in 2009 and 40 percent of the revenue loss in 2010. For MCS the rebates would mean help from the state of about $120,000 in 2009 and about $216,000 in 2010. Kenley said that MCS might have to cut its budget in two years by about 3 percent to fully absorb the impact of the caps. Kenley said that schools elsewhere were encountering problems paying for health insurance benefits. "Healthcare plans for schools across the state cost $1.1 billion," he said. The average cost of healthcare insurance per school employee in Indiana is about $18,000, he said, while the average cost for health insurance for state workers is $13,000. At MCS the current cost is estimated at more than $25,000 per teacher. Kenley said at some point the General Assembly could consider legislation placing public school teachers across Indiana under a state plan as local teacher labor contracts expire. "Is there an ability to bring down the richness of the plans?" Kenley asked. "… We are having to deal with some pretty hard issues this year."
TALIAN TALKS OF COMING TAX REVISIONS: State Sen. Karen Tallian told a town hall audience Saturday to "stay tuned" next week for a new development as the upper chamber wrestles over property tax relief (Post-Tribune). Tallian, D-Portage, said legislators have considered three versions of H.B. 1001, which started out as Gov. Mitch Daniels’ tax-relief plan to which House Democrats added 150 amendments before passing the 900-plus page measure on to the Senate. "Sen. (Luke) Kenley (R-Noblesville) and his Tax and Fiscal Policy Committee completely revised it," Tallian said before accusing her Republican colleagues of keeping major flaws in the new version under wraps. She said those "things" include the state shouldering the full load of funding local schools, a graduated system of caps on property tax bills starting at 1 percent of assessed value for homeowners, a 1 percent increase in the state sales tax, and a "suggested" 0.5 percent income tax in all counties. Tallian said Democrats will hold a news conference in Indianapolis on Monday to detail an amendment they will offer to offer further tax relief to low- and fixed-income homeowners. "This will tie property tax relief to income. It will not require a whole revamping of local government, but will replace (lost) property tax revenue with money from other sources that are more responsive to people’s ability to pay," she said. Tallian sparred with Richard Turnak, chairman of the Portage City Council Ways and Means Committee, over what he saw as wasteful bureaucracy in state government.
IMMIGRATION BILL HAD IMPACT IN TWO STATES: Thousands of illegal immigrants have fled the two states that have enacted tough new immigration laws similar to the one before the Indiana General Assembly (Indianapolis Star). Since passing their laws, Oklahoma and Arizona have seen declines in school enrollments, a scarcity of construction workers and the sudden emptying of rental homes and apartments. The same, some people say, would happen in Indiana, though advocates of stronger immigration laws say they would welcome the change. The impact in Tulsa, Okla., was startling to Judy Feary, a principal at an elementary school where 59 percent of 1,000 students are Hispanic. On opening day last fall, 180 Hispanic students did not show up for class at Kendall-Whittier Elementary. "Some of them left. Others just hunkered down in their homes, afraid to come out," said Feary, a 38-year veteran of Tulsa schools. "There were lots of rumors going around that they would be arrested and their children taken away. So we did some community outreach, and we had to talk them into returning to school." Eventually, about 100 children were coaxed back, many of them U.S. citizens whose parents are not here legally. But across the Tulsa school district, the enrollment of Hispanic students is down by 257, an unexpected reversal of rising enrollments in recent years. Whether that’s good news or bad news depends on your view of illegal immigration. Supporters of the bill by Sen. Mike Delph, R-Carmel, say jobs left open by fleeing immigrants will be filled by unemployed Americans, and fewer tax dollars will be spent on social services for illegal residents. Critics see a looming gap in the state’s economy as workers take their local spending dollars elsewhere. Delph maintains that his bill, which would crack down on employers that hire. "You can’t have it both ways," Delph said. "If you illegally entered the country, there are consequences. Just because the federal government has chosen not to enforce the law or an individual has skated by for years does not mean that judgment day won’t be coming." Delph also has a message to businesses that stand to lose employees: "There are plenty of able-bodied Hoosiers that need jobs that will be willing to do those jobs at a fair market wage."
SEN. FORD EAGER TO GET BACK INTO FRAY: Sen. David Ford, R-Hartford City, remains under hospice care at home suffering from pancreatic cancer but is continuing his duties as state senator this session. In a letter from Ford, read at the Third House meeting in Marion on Saturday, the legislator wrote that he is able to participate through teleconferencing with other senators and, with the help of co-authors, has put forward two bills that will be going to Gov. Mitch Daniels for his signature (Marion Chronicle-Tribune). "Obviously, this is not the way I would prefer to be representing you because I prefer to be in the middle of the fray as opposed to the sidelines, but it is the best I can do for now and until I am released to return," the letter read. Ford reported on his condition and wrote that he has begun a course of chemotherapy with Lutheran Hospital in Fort Wayne. "So far my body is tolerating the treatment quite well but, beyond that, it is much too soon to know how the future course of the disease will go," he wrote. "I will try to keep you posted."
KERSEY SEEKING RE-ELECTION: A 12-year political veteran announced his plan Friday to run for re-election to the Indiana House of Representatives (Terre Haute Tribune-Star). Rep. Clyde Kersey, D-Terre Haute, will run against Republican Ryan Cummins for the District 43 seat. “I guess in any election, a candidate should run on his record,” Kersey said to about 22 people in the County Council chambers of the Vigo County Annex. “In the past 12 years, I think I’ve had a record that I’m pretty proud of.” Some issues upon which Kersey said he has focused since being elected and wants to continue his efforts are workers’ rights, senior citizens’ rights, public education and jobs.
2008 Election
COUNCILWOMAN PASSES ON SENATE RUN: Republican Shelby County Councilwoman Tami Grubbs, who earlier had expressed an interest in running for the Senate District 42 seat of outgoing state Sen. Robert Jackman, R-Milroy, surprised local political observers by filing her candidacy Friday morning for the Center District county commissioner seat (Shelbyville News). "After giving this a lot of thought and talking to many Shelby County residents, I realize how nervous and concerned about the future of Shelby County people are," she said in a statement. "They want and need as many voices as they can get here locally to get them through some huge growing pains that are coming in the near future." Grubbs, who filed the necessary papers just hours before Friday’s noon primary election filing deadline, said she wanted to be a voice for her constituents. "I believe in representing the people who vote me into office," she said. "I would like to do that locally for at least another four years. It would be great to represent District 42 in the state Senate, but for now, I think staying at the county level is the best decision." State
TAXPAYERS PONDER SCHOOL’S EXPENSE: Can Hanover taxpayers afford a new middle school? Property owners in Hanover Township, which includes Cedar Lake and parts of St. John, would like to know. Most agree a new school is needed. What they don’t agree on, however, is whether they need a school that’s worth $34 million (Post-Tribune). The total bill, including renovations to Hanover School Corp.’s other schools, comes to $43 million. "We’re not against the school," Mark Stenger said. "We’re against the amount of money they’re spending." With additional tax impact projections ranging from under $200 to more than $700 a year, property owners say they’re confused. The school system’s financial consultant Damian Maggos, of Indianapolis-based City Securities, determined that, worst-case scenario, taxes on a $150,000 assessed valuation home would be $509, and best-case-scenario, it would be $377. The figure would decrease by $30 a year over the life of the 20-year bond, no matter what the scenario, Maggos said. "There’s no way we could go to the Department of Local Government Finance with a project that would have an increase of $700," Maggos said of one estimate given.
Counties
THREE COMMISSONER SEATS UP IN WARRICK: "The atmosphere for politics is just prime," said White, the Warrick County Democratic chairman (Evansville Courier & Press). "The enthusiasm can come and go. There are so many contested races … there seems to be a renewed vigor. This isn’t anything like last year’s races. All this is fickle, that’s what makes it exciting. You have up years and down years and this is an up year." One of the races to watch will be the County Commissioners race, which could possibly have all new members, even though there are only two seats open. Republican Commissioner Phil Baxter, whose seat is not up, has filed for county surveyor. He will face Republican incumbent Jim Niemeyer in the May primary. The winner of that race would then face either Dennis Sullivan or Todd Hudson, both Democrats, in the fall election. Martin, the Warrick County Republican chairman, said in the commissioners race there will be at least one new face for the District One seat, but depending on the outcome of the surveyor’s race, there may be a second opening. "That really could shake things up in the commissioners’ office," he said. "I hope we have at least one person who remains with some experience. I think we have some top-notch candidates signed up to run." That experienced person could be incumbent Republican Don Williams, who is running for re-election in the District 3 commissioner’s seat.
MIAMI COUNTY MAILS REBATE CHECKS: A year ago, Indiana lawmakers promised residential property owners a $240 rebate check on property taxes. For most, the amount will be considerably lower (Kokomo Tribune). Checks to Miami County residents were mailed last week and are not nearly what people expected, according to Auditor Brenda Weaver. “The checks are ranging from $50 to $200,” she said. “I doubt anyone got more than that.” Weaver said her rebate check was for $88. The county received $1,186,177 from the state for the rebates, an average of approximately $124 per residential property owner.
Presidential
HILLARY GETS SARCASTIC: On Saturday, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton showed her angry side, admonishing Senator Barack Obama for a campaign mailing that she called misleading (New York Times). On Sunday, before a rally of several thousand, she added a heavy dose of sarcasm. “Now I could stand up here and say, let’s get everybody together, let’s get unified the sky will open, the light will come down, celestial choirs will be singing,” she said, to a smattering of giggles. “And everyone will know we should do the right thing, and the world will be perfect.” She added: “But I have no illusions about how hard this is going to be. You are not going to wave a magic wand and make the special interests disappear.”
DEAN BLASTS McCAIN OVER FINANCE: Democratic Party Chairman Howard Dean accused Republican presidential front-runner John McCain of trying to skirt campaign finance laws Sunday by trying to opt out of public financing for his primary campaign (CNN). Howard Dean says John McCain has been trying to dodge some campaign finance laws. 1 of 2 Dean told reporters McCain has already used the prospect of nearly $6 million in federal matching funds — which he now says he won’t claim — as collateral for a January campaign loan and to obtain automatic ballot access in every state. Dean said he was filing a complaint with the Federal Election Commission to block McCain from quitting the public financing system, which imposes a spending cap on candidates. "The law is very, very clear," Dean said. "He cannot be let out of the matching fund program if he has already used the promise of matching funds for loan collateral, and it’s already clear from his FEC report that he has used that promise."
FARRAKHAN PRAISES OBAMA: In his first major public address since a cancer crisis, Nation of Islam Minister Louis Farrakhan said Sunday that presidential candidate Barack Obama is the "hope of the entire world" that the U.S. will change for the better (Associated Press). The 74-year-old Farrakhan, addressing an estimated crowd of 20,000 people at the annual Saviours’ Day celebration, never outrightly endorsed Obama but spent most of the nearly two-hour speech praising the Illinois senator. "This young man is the hope of the entire world that America will change and be made better," he said. "This young man is capturing audiences of black and brown and red and yellow. If you look at Barack Obama’s audiences and look at the effect of his words, those people are being transformed." Farrakhan compared Obama to the religion’s founder, Fard Muhammad, who also had a white mother and black father. "A black man with a white mother became a savior to us," he told the crowd of mostly followers. "A black man with a white mother could turn out to be one who can lift America from her fall."
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