[As I compose this article I also watched Butler just demolish UTEP - Next up: Murray State]

With exception for some occasional mild jabs mainly from State Rep Mike Murphy, the multitude of candidates seeking the 5th CD GOP primary election have directed their combined attacks towards incumbent Congressman Dan Burton. Until now.

Today, former 7th CD candidate Brose McVey sent an email to his supporters bashing an opponent. However Congressman Burton was NOT mentioned. Instead, the email was directed at career lawyer, legislator and lobbyist and favorite son of the Downtown Indianapolis crowd, Luke Messer.

Luke Messer has made fundraising his core mission, priority and area of emphasis…

[M]ore money from big business executives and special interest groups in Indianapolis and use it to purchase television ads and junk mail … If this District was looking for a professional fundraiser, Messer would be our man!

OUCH!!! As the late Billy Mays would say, BUT WAIT!! THERE’S MORE!!

[O]ne of his most recent contributions was from the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), a special interest [and very Dem - Ed.] labor union, representing local and state government employees.

Interesting. AFSCME is deeply entrenched in the Dem party, along with SEIU. So why would a congressional candidate who claims to be “the conservative candidate” taking money from a Dem labor union?

Of course Brose doesn’t have clean hands in his vendetta against fundraising, as a large amount of the money raised in his 2002 bid to unseat the late Julia Carson came from outside the district and Indiana. Let’s look at Brose McVey’s out of state contributors for this election cycle, shall we?

• HANON, STEPHEN R BRENTWOOD TN 37027 03/31/2009
• ASHFORD, JOHN ALEXANDRIA VA 22314 06/12/2009
• QUAYLE, DAN PARADISE VALLEY AZ 85253 09/17/2009
• FISHER, STEVEN WASHINGTON DC 20015 05/07/2009
• LOUDY, ELIZABETH MS ALEXANDRIA VA 22312 06/30/2009
• SIDMAN, LAWRENCE BETHESDA MD 20817 06/29/2009
• OSBORN, JOHN MR. DARIEN CT 06820 03/14/2009
• KOCH, ROBIN CHICAGO IL 60610 09/29/2009
• VROOM, JAY WASHINGTON DC 20005 09/23/2009
• CARLSON, MARC SAN CLEMENTE CA 92673 12/15/2009
• MCGOVERN, JOSEPH & SUSAN NORTH ARLINGTON NJ 07031 12/07/2009
• SMITH, MARGARET LEXINGTON KY 40508 03/21/2009

These coming weeks will be interesting to watch the challengers start a feeding frenzy against each other.

(…and to those who are curious, Messer’s campaign and his blogger/chauffeur are already on damage control – you can read it at their usual spot)

UPDATE: Lincoln Plowman retired from IMPD and resigned from the Council today.

Abdul writes on Indiana Barrister:

I’ll also be watching the Lincoln Plowman resignation on Monday. There are a couple dynamics at play here. By stepping down, as opposed to being fired, Plowman will keep his retirement since he has 20 years as an IMPD officer. Plowman is also resigning from the Council, I’m checking through my list of possible replacements, one person who quickly comes to mind is Tim Ping who briefly ran for State Representative to replace Mike Murphy who is running for Congress.

I would concur on his observation of his likely replacement. Tim is a good guy, and it doesn’t hurt when one’s wife is the Vice-Chairman of the Marion County Republican Central Committee. That being said Plowman has not been indicted, or even any indication of the investigation being concluded and turned over to the US Attorney’s office (this is supposedly a Federal investigation) or any Federal grand jury being impaneled. There is still the possibility there was no wrongdoing and the investigation will will come to the same conclusion. For Angela Mansfield (D-2nd) to proselytize about ethics when her own party runs very low on ethics itself is laughable. Why didn’t Monroe Gray resign during the investigations into his business practices? Or why didn’t Doris Minton-McNeil resign after her arrest for battery upon a police officer? There’s the questionable ethics around Paul Bateman and his non-profits. I guess “Innocent until Proven Guilty” only applies to Democrats and not Republicans, huh Angela?

On top of all that, Mary Milz (wife of the left-wing editor of the IndyStar Dennis Ryerson) is conducting her own witch hunt into Councilor Plowman’s affairs. I guess WTHR really does stand for “We Truly Hate Republicans” doesn’t it?

With five candidates running for Senate, fourteen running in the 4th Congressional District and seven in the 5th CD, we’re bound to be in for a lot of poll numbers to come from campaigns over the next nine weeks before the primary.

A few weeks ago, a 5th CD candidate came out with his own poll, from Bellwether Research showing, that Congressman Dan Burton’s re-elect numbers were low.  But when Burton was taken out of the equation, a push poll showed that none of the candidates broke 16%, while “undecided” scored a whopping 43%.  Turns out, that 43% ends up voting for Dan Burton.

Results from a poll taken January 20-21, 2010 and recently released by the Burton Campaign showed:

Congressman Burton currently leads his closest opponent by 34%, as the ballot currently stands at 43% Burton/9% Messer/8% McVey/8% McGoff/4% Murphy/2% Lyons and 26% undecided.

(Read more after the leap)

City-County Councilor and State Rep Candidate (HD90) Mike Speedy wrote on State Rep Candidate (HD89) Cindy Kirchofer’s Facebook wall:

“A primary opponent of yours didn’t know he had to form a campaign committee to run for office. The State Election Commission sent this notice to my home address. Not sure which is worse: a candidate not knowing he needed a committee or the state notifying the wrong candidate.”

The Parks & Recreation Committee of the Indianapolis-Marion County City-County Council met tonight to take public testimony on Proposal 39-2010. This proposal, authored by the Republican-turned-Libertarian Ed Coleman (L-At Large), would remove the prohibition of firearm possession on park property. It is legal to possess a firearm if you have a carry permit in national parks, Indiana state parks, but not in IndyParks.

When this proposal was introduced in the Council, Republican Mayor Greg Ballard almost immediately announced that he would veto the proposal if it were to pass Council. About a dozen people spoke in favor of the proposal, including yours truly. Two spoke out against it.

After public comments, Councilor Lincoln Plowman (R-25th) said he supported the proposal but had an issue with it because of the potential for IndyParks property to violate the state law on school zones. He immediately moved to table the proposal. Councilors Janice McHenry (R-6th), William Oliver (D-10th), and Susie Day (R-20th) concurred. Councilors Mike Speedy (R-24th), Monroe Gray (D-8th) and Vernon Brown (D-18th) voted no on tabling.

Monroe Gray stated he did not like the proposal at all. So I wonder did he know he was voting to table it or did he not want it tabled, but send it to the full council so it can be voted down? Vernon Brown, on the other hand, commented that he thought CCW permit holders should be allowed to possess on IndyParks property. I spoke to Brown after the hearing and said “Hell has frozen over. We actually agree on an issue!”

Councilor Coleman stated to the gathered crowd that he felt the reason the proposal was tabled in committee was to save face for themselves and the Mayor. Some GOP insiders state the sole reason for Councilor Coleman writing this proposal is stirring up animosity within the party that got him elected to his seat, which he repaid the favor by defecting to the Libertarians.

Where’s that “Global Warming” everyone keeps talking about?

From NWS Indianapolis:

…WINTER STORM COULD PRODUCE HEAVY SNOWFALL SUNDAY NIGHT THROUGH MONDAY NIGHT…
A STRONG WINTER STORM IS EXPECTED TO MOVE INTO CENTRAL INDIANA ON SUNDAY NIGHT BRINGING A MIX OF PRECIPITATION ACROSS THE FORECAST AREA. THERE IS STILL UNCERTAINTY IN THE TRACK OF THE SYSTEM …AND ANY SHIFT WILL HAVE A SIGNIFICANT IMPACT ON THE PRECIPITATION TYPE. CURRENTLY…TEMPERATURES COULD BE WARM ENOUGH TO SUPPORT A FREEZING RAIN EVENT ACROSS THE SOUTHERN PORTIONS OF CENTRAL INDIANA…A MIX OF SNOW/RAIN ACROSS CENTRAL COUNTIES…AND SNOW OVER THE NORTHERN PORTIONS OF THE FORECAST AREA. SNOWFALL AMOUNTS COULD RANGE BETWEEN 5 TO 8 INCHES. BUT AGAIN…THIS IS DEPENDENT ON THE TRACK OF THE STORM.

THE IMPACTS FROM THIS STORM INCLUDE…HAZARDOUS ROAD CONDITIONS DURING RUSH HOUR ON MONDAY MORNING DUE TO SNOW AND ICE COVERED ROADS.

CHANGES IN THE PATH AND INTENSITY OF THIS SYSTEM WILL HAVE A GREAT IMPACT ON WHAT AREAS RECEIVE THE HIGHER SNOW AMOUNTS. STAY INFORMED OF THE LATEST FORECASTS AND BE PREPARED IF A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY IS ISSUED.

From the NRA-ILA:

On February 22, a new law on guns in national parks takes effect. The law repeals a National Park Service rule that has long prohibited Americans from lawfully possessing firearms in national parks for self-defense.
The new law, passed last spring by an overwhelming bipartisan vote in the U.S. Senate, will allow people to possess, carry and transport firearms in national parks, in accordance with state law.

This mirrors a regulation passed a few years ago allowing possession in Indiana state parks by firearms owners who hold a permit. It is still illegal to possess a firearm in Indianapolis city parks.

Since I am one of now many candidates up for consideration by the PC’s at a later caucus for the City-County Council At-Large seat, I went and met many folks most of whom I already know from being around the clubs and other events in the past couple of years. Met all of my opponents in this race so far. All were very cordial, and all agree to keep everything clean and above board. While in line for a 2nd time for my voting credential (more on that in a second), I had a lengthy conversation with a PC who had concerns over mass transit. I told her what I thought, that yes its an idea whose time has come but how will it be funded? There’s a balance between reasonable fares to support such an operation versus trying to hold the line on taxes used to subsidize such a service. Then we discussed things like using abandoned railroad right-of-way and existing freight tracks that are under utilized (for example the Nickel Plate – which is now the “Fair Train”) before getting into new ROW acquisition. Also discussed getting the collar counties involved and I admitted that is something that will require action by the Indiana General Assembly. Though I hear “let’s just use Federal money” remember it’s still OUR tax money, just coming from a different pot.

The reason I went through the registration line twice is it seems somehow I was left off the list of voting members. A couple phone calls to my ward chairman and area chairman and later the problem was solved. Thanks to NE area chair Jim Gutting for getting this sorted out for me.

Things started off with the usual pageantry and leading off was the Prosecutor’s nomination. I’ve never heard of Mark Massa until today and frankly, I’m very impressed by his credentials. Former deputy prosecutor under Scott Newman and Assistant US Attorney. As Deputy Prosecutor he did everything from minor offenses to capital murder cases and even prosecuted 2 death penalty cases. His words were “I don’t like to do it, but I will” referring to asking for the death penalty in a capital murder case. Very much qualified to serve as our next Marion County Prosecutor. Obviously we’re behind the 8-ball on prosecutor’s race fund raising and with the late announcement of Carl Brizzi not running for a third term as prosecutor, and the stutter step of Helen Marchal as the initial candidate for Prosecutor. The next few weeks will obviously be spent building the name ID of Mark Massa. Marion County voters will not go wrong by voting for Mark Massa.

(More Below The Fold)

All the work of a small group of people seeking the blessing of the Marion County Republican faithful is coming to a climax today. There is one countywide office, and the most contentious, going to a vote of Precinct Committeemen and Ward Chairmen. That is the Marion County Sheriff. Bart McAtee is seeking the party’s support, but is looked upon negatively by party faithful over his past support of Democrat Sheriff Frank Anderson. Steve Davis, the 2006 candidate for Sheriff, and IMPD Sargent Dennis Fishburn (father of IMPD patrolman Jason Fishburn) are also seeking the party’s support in the primary. Tim Motsinger was the early front runner for Marion County Sheriff but had to exit the race when his finance chairman, Tim Durham, befell upon legal problems unrelated to the election. The 7th Congressional District is also going before the PC’s today that represent the 7th CD. There are a couple township offices that will go to a vote of the respective township PC’s. The early favorite is Carlos May, a young hispanic American who previously worked for the Mayor Ballard administration.

Here’s the list as we know them:

Marion County Sheriff – Steve Davis, Dennis Fishburn, and Bart McAtee

7th Congressional District – Carlos May, Rafael Ramirez (Note: Dr. Marvin Scott is on the ballot but bypassed slating).

The Perry Township Constable and Lawrence Township Trustee are also seeking the party’s endorsement for their respective townships

NOTE: The open Indianapolis City-County Council seat is NOT being voted upon today. That is tentatively scheduled for March 1st at a venue to be chosen at a later time.

Hoosier Access will be here to bring you the results as they happen. The Convention is expected to begin around 8 AM.

You call follow @HoosierAccess on Twitter also.

(Read below the fold for results)

Reports from the the Indiana Daily Student and Brian Howey suggest that Becky Skillman is alluding to a potential run for Governor in 2012.

SKILLMAN ‘LEANING TOWARD RUNNING’ FOR GOVERNOR: The Indiana Lt. Governor has more constitutional and statutory duties than most other state number-twos in the nation (Miller & Ayari, Indiana Daily Student). After spending the past five years addressing responsibilities as Lt. Governor, Republican Becky Skillman said Tuesday she might run for Governor in 2012.

Hoosier Access can confirm that Skillman is preparing a run for Governor. Sources very close to the Lieutenant Governor tell Hoosier Access that Skillman is “preparing for a run”.

Preparing for a run sounds a lot more like running for an office than might be running.