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Democratic gubernatorial nominee Jill Long Thompson is beginning to develop a "framework" for finding a lieutnenat governor nominee. Thompson made it clear to HPI on Wednesday that she would be looking for an LG who would work tirelessly on jobs. "Major criterion is leadership on economic development," Thomspon said. Does geography matter? Thomspon answered, "Geography is a factor for consideration but ultimately it’s important to find the best qualified person to do the job, And someone who will be committed to campaigning very hard every day. Not just to win, but to work very hard for eight years to rebuild Indiana’s economy?" Who might be other names? Almost certainly topping the list will be Evansville Mayor Jonathan Weinzapfel (pictured here at a Barack Obama rally in Evansville on April 22), a two-term mayor, former legislator and congressional candiate. There were blog reports that Thompson met with Weinzapfel, but campaign spokesman Jeff Harris said the two had only exchanged voice mails. There is the Bloomington group, that would include Mayor Mark Kruzan, another former legislator, State Sen. Vi Simpson and State Reps, Matt Pierce and Peggy Welch. Other mayors who might appear on speculation lists include Hammond’s Tom McDermott, Lafayette’s Tony Roswarski, South Bend’s Stephen Luecke and former Fort Wayne mayor Graham Richard. While Richard backed Jim Schellinger, he offers the kind of economic development and technology background that Thompson described. Others who might offer geographic balance from the south includes State Sen. Robert Dieg is a former Posey County commissioner and councilman and serves on the Senate agriculture, State Sen. Connie Sipes who is a New Albany school principal; State Rep, Steve Stemler who is president and CEO of Jeffersonville’s Stemler Corp.; Crothersville School Supt. Terry Goodin; Wasington broadcaster and State Rep. Dave Crooks; State Rep. Trent Van Haaften, a former Posey County prosecutor. Others state senators might include Sue Errington of Muncie, Anderson attorney Tim Lanane, John Broden of South Bend, and Portage attorney Karen Talian. House members who might be on a list include Anderson State Rep, Teri Austin who teaches at Anderson University; Vincennes teacher Kreg Battles, former Fort Wayne Mayor Winfield Moses, Scott Reske of Pendleton who serves on the small business committee, and out-going State Reps. David Orentlicher and Carolene Mays, who publishes the Indianapolis Recorder.Thompson conducted talks with Democratic Party leaders on Thursday, said campaign spokesman Jeff Harris. "The party is unifying quickly behind Jill," he said. "We are really pleased who quickly it’s happening." Harris suggested that there would be a series of announcements coming in the next several days. "People are ready to defeat Mitch Daniels," Harris said. He added that the campaign is looking for an office in Indianapolis. Indiana Democratic Chairman Dan Parker told HPI after meeting with Thompson campaign manager Travis Lowe, "I met with her campaign staff. They’re going to be moving into the space we’ve got at the office. They’ll be moving in next week. Things are going very well. We talked about what it’s going to take to defeat Daniels. We pledged to work with her to get that done." (HPI Photo by Brian A. Howey)
Tags: Graham Richard, Jill Long Thompson, Jonathan Weinzapfel, Mark Kruzan, Stephen Luecke, Tom McDermott, Tony Roswarski
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This entry was written by and posted on May 10, 2008 at 9:50 am and filed under HPI Weekly. Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post.
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