This morning I got an opportunity to speak with Ron Bacon (R) who is running for Indiana State House District 75 against Rep. Dennis Avery (D). You can see a map of House District 75 here. This district includes parts of  of Vanderburgh, Gibson and Warrick counties. I would like to thank Ron for taking the time to talk with me.

Bio:

As a small business owner in Vanderburgh and Warrick Counties for the past 32 years, Ron understands the importance of fiscal responsibility. Whether leasing space, selling products or signing paychecks, he knows what it means to watch the bottom line. He’s seen firsthand how lower taxes on small businesses mean more jobs for working families in Southwest Indiana. But he also realizes that his fiscal decisions have real consequences for his employees and his family.

And Ron knows a thing or two about keeping government spending low while providing high quality service to Hoosier citizens. As an elected Warrick County Councilman, he never voted for a budget that spent more money than the local government was bringing in. As the Warrick County Coroner, he modernized the department and implemented a model of service that makes record keeping easier and response times quicker for families in their times of loss. In this tough economic environment, we need legislators who will vote with those same principle in mind.

Ron currently lives in Warrick County with his wife, Karen. They have two children and 3 grandchildren. In addition to owning Freedom Medical, the only family-owned medical supply store in Southwest Indiana, and serving as an elected official in Warrick County, he is also actively involved in many community service organizations. He is currently a member of Vanderburgh County Right to Life, Indiana Right to Life, the National Rifle Association, and the Kiwanis, and formerly served as president of the Boonville Kiwanis, Boonville Junior League Baseball/Softball program, and secretary and treasurer of the Evansville West Side Optimist Club. In his spare time, he is a master gardener and likes to restore classic cars.

Read more

Starting this week we at Hoosier Access will be presenting to you a new weekly write up called Candidate Monday. Beginning this Monday and every Monday after, their will be a profile of each Republican Candidate who is running for the House of Representatives for the State of Indiana.

Each Monday we will include the Candidates bio, goals, their purpose for running and their future for the State of Indiana. We look forward to presenting these Candidates to you and to give you an insight into each one of them.

Each post will also contain contact information for the Candidate, so you can find out more about each one and how you can become a vital part of their campaign. Each one of these Candidates are going to be working very hard to get into the State House and we need to do whatever we can to help them and the Republican Party regain control of the House again.

I would also encourage you to follow and read Frugal Hoosiers and their Road to 51 project. They have been working hard on this project and we are just another source for you and to help you make the right decisions. I believe we all need to work together in a time like this.

Tomorrow we will bring you Luke Abbott

I just received this in my e-mail. Charlie has been working hard around the State of Indiana and now it is official. Please consider Charlie for Secretary of State, he is a great man and I know he would serve the State of Indiana well (note…this is my opinion and not necessarily the opinion of others here on Hoosier Access)

_________________________________________________________

Fishers, IN September 14, 2009-After 10 months of touring nearly 70 counties in the Hoosier State as an exploratory candidate, Charlie White, Republican Fishers Town Councilman, has announced his intention to run for Indiana Secretary of State (SOS) in 2010. Todd Rokita, who is currently in the SOS office, is term limited from seeking this office again.

Please forward this message to all of your contacts. For more information, please e-mail the campaign at campaign@charlieforindiana.com

Our very own Jim Banks is officially throwing his hat into the ring.

Banks Launches Candidacy for Indiana Senate District 17
Whitley County Councilman offers business background, proven conservative record

(August 11, 2009) – Jim Banks formally announced his candidacy for Indiana State Senate District 17 today by filing the necessary paperwork with the Whitley County Clerk’s office.

Banks, 30, is the first to file to succeed retiring Indiana State Senator Gary “Doc” Dillon. A county councilman elected at-large in Whitley County, Banks also serves as the Whitley County Republican Chairman and Third District Republican Vice-Chairman.

“I am excited about this opportunity to take my public service to the Legislature where I can advance many fiscal and social conservative issues that matter to our district,” said Banks. “I am proud of my fiscal conservative record on the Whitley County Council and look forward to taking the same fresh and aggressive conservative values to the State House.”

Banks is the Director of Business Development at The Hagerman Group, a 101-year old general contractor and construction management company headquartered in Fort Wayne. Before joining The Hagerman Group, Banks owned and managed a public affairs firm for five years. Prior to that, he worked in the Public Policy Department at Focus on the Family in Colorado Springs, Colorado., where he helped advance pro-family values across the nation.

Banks serves on several boards including Northeast Indiana Regional Workforce Development, Columbia City Chamber of Commerce, Fort Wayne Area Builders and Contractors Association Government Affairs Committee and the Columbia City Rotary Club.

Banks and his wife Amanda live in Columbia City where Jim was born and raised before attending and graduating from Indiana University. The Banks’ expect their first child later this month. They belong to Trinity Evangelical Presbyterian Church in Columbia City.

####

Tonight, precinct committeemen from Marion and Hamilton Counties met to select a new State Senator for District 30 to replace Teresa Lubbers. On the second ballot, by a margin of 61 to 38, former City-County Councilman Scott Schneider defeated City-County Councilman Ryan Vaughn (who works at Barnes & Thornburg, was endorsed by Mayor Greg Ballard, and was generally seen as the establishment choice).

Former state representative John Ruckelshaus (who lost to Lubbers in the primary in the district when it was an open seat) was eliminated on the first ballot. The margin on that ballot showed Schneider with 49 votes, Vaughn with 37, Ruckelshaus with 12, and one ballot spoiled. Vaughn gained only one vote on the second ballot; apparently either all of Ruckelshaus’ supporters voted for Schneider on the second ballot, a substantial number of Vaughn’s supporters bailed and deserted him, or there was a good bit of bandwagoning (or all of the above).

Hoosier Access streamed the caucus live online, including the pre-vote speeches of each candidate, and had interviews with all three of the candidates.

This election marks but the latest time that the Indianapolis establishment has gone to bat in a caucus, convention, or primary, only to be decisively sent packing by the party base. Indeed, Scheider’s margin of victory–61 to 38–isn’t all that different from Greg Zoeller’s 60% to 40% convention victory over Jon Costas in June of last year.

Time and again, “wiser” insiders in Indianapolis have tried to pick winners in these contests. Time and again, they have been defeated. Delph beat Randolph, Walker beat Garton, Bailey beat Kellems, Leising beat Sponsel, Zoeller beat Costas, and now Schneider beat Vaughn.

Read more after the leap.

It is official. Scott Schneider won the Indiana Senate District 30 caucus on the second ballot tonight. I said in a previous post I said that I would give a rundown of the various candidates and what I did.

I will do so in the order that they fell out of the caucus.

Analysis below the fold:

This Tuesday, July 21st at 7:00 pm Precinct Committeemen will meet to select the successor to Teresa Lubbers State Senate seat. This seat represents the north central portion of Marion County and the southern strip of Hamilton County. There are four candidates vying for this seat: Ryan Vaughn (current Indianapolis City-County Counselor); Scott Schneider (former Indianapolis City-County Counselor); John Ruckelhaus(a former State Representative); and occasional Hoosier Access commenter Chris Douglas.

I happen to be one of 108 Precinct Committeemen who are in Senate District 30.

On Wednesday (or maybe late Tuesday evening) I will give a report of what happens and my analysis of the four candidates, even who I voted for and why. But I would like to ask a question of the Hoosier Access community.

Someone commented to me that the Indiana Senate needed new leadership which got me thinking–what is leadership? How does a Senator show leadership?

Is it someone who stands on principles even when standing alone? (Or is that just courage) Is it someone who compromises on unimportant things in order to get the main part of what they want? Is it the person who brings people together to create a consensus?

Or is it something else?

***

Added by The Directors: We’re working on some sort of coverage for the caucus. We don’t know if we’re going to have a video or audio coverage yet or if we’ll just live blog it. Stay tuned.

By: Brian Sikma

In Lake County Indiana in 2008, a stack of 2,100 voter registration applications were determined to be fraudulent.  Filled out by ACORN quasi-employees (volunteers getting paid) the applications were not for dead people, they were for people who never even existed.  In one notable and now well-known instance Jimmy John’s, the sandwich shop, tried to register to vote.

Free, open, and honest elections are the heartbeat of our representative government.   The concept of self-government is only a theory until the mechanics of election law and procedure are brought to bear.  If an election is have consequences, and if it is to mean something, it must be held with integrity and the results must not be questionable or open to justifiable suspicion.  Energetic debate and intense campaigning between multiple candidates for public office is acceptable and healthy, but once the balloting is underway the voters must be assured that their vote is legitimate and that it will not be subjected to partisan pressures.

In many states the responsibility for insuring that election law is followed carefully, fully and properly falls to the Secretary of State.  It is this officer’s job to insure that the law is followed in every possible way in order to insure that the outcome of an election genuinely reflects the final judgment of the people.  Because this single task is one of the most important jobs in the state, some left-wing groups, including the supposedly non-partisan Secretary of State Project (SOS Project), have begun targeting Secretary of State races around the country.  They know that if the rules can be relaxed, what cannot win in an honest election can win in a fraudulent election.

[More Below The Fold]

This morning we held a press conference in South Bend in which I officially announced to the public that I am running for the Indiana House of Representatives in House District 7. The South Bend Tribune and the Howey Report have both posted items about the event, and I expect more coverage from WSBT Radio, WSBT TV, ABC 57, the South Bend Tribune and perhaps others. For more information on my campaign check out my website at www.DanHerbster.com. On the website you can find out more about the campaign, and you can make a safe and convenient contribution (hint, hint) via paypal or via check.

I hope to have photos (and maybe video) of the event posted soon on the website and on our “Dan Herbster for State Representative” facebook group. Here’s the official press release:

Dan Herbster is honored to have Kip Wellin, his former high school government teacher and basketball coach, join the Herbster team as campaign chairman

Today, Dan Herbster announced his candidacy for the Indiana House of Representatives for House District 7. Dan is a new face in local politics, and wants to use his teaching experience and familiarity with legislative matters to serve the residents of our district.

He also announced Kip Wellin’s acceptance of the campaign chairman position. Kip was Dan’s high school government teacher and basketball coach. Kip also has years of experience in the business world and in the classroom.

Dan Herbster issued the following statement:

“Thanks to all of you for coming out today. I am excited to announce that I am running for the Indiana House of Representatives here in House District 7. I am here today because I believe the time has come for new leadership, and I want to use my core values and my experiences teaching in the public schools and in schools overseas to serve and represent the community where I grew up. The issues I am most concerned about are attracting good paying jobs to our area, fighting tax increases, strengthening education, and protecting traditional Hoosier values.”

“I am also pleased to announce that my former high school government teacher and basketball coach, Kip Wellin, has agreed to be my campaign chairman. Kip has years of experience in the business world and has spent the last twelve years impacting the lives of young people as teacher and coach. I will greatly benefit from his support and advice, particularly on economic and educational issues.”

Kip Wellin issued the following statement:

“Today it is my distinct pleasure to accept Dan’s request to chair his bid for the Indiana House of Representatives. Having known Dan and his family for many years I can honestly say that Dan represents all that is good about the Hoosier state, and in particular the core values that we hold dear like hard work, low taxation, faith, and responsible, representative government. This campaign for the 7th district is about a call for new leadership and fresh ideas. And our candidate will bring youth, energy and vitality to a people who deserve nothing less. I am pleased to chair Dan’s bid to be your state representative.”

#####

——– Original Message ——–
Subject: Campaign finance reform in Indiana
Date: Wed, 06 Aug 2008 09:21:54 -0400
From: Scott Tibbs <tibbs1973@yahoo.com>
To: H61@IN.gov

Representative Pierce,

I read with concern in the Indianapolis Star that public financing has been proposed in Indiana, with the possibility of strict limits of campaign contributions. I think this is a bad idea and encourage you not to support this.

The first and most obvious problem with contribution limits is that it is a disadvantage to minor parties such as the Libertarian and Green parties. Enough Indiana voters have voted for the Libertarian candidate for Secretary of State over the past few elections to give the Libertarian party an automatic spot on the Indiana ballot, and minor parties serve a valuable purpose by holding the primary two parties accountable and giving the parties a political incentive to stand by their principles.

(Read more after the leap)

Now that the state convention is over, I think it about time for us to turn our attention to the Indiana House races. This can be an important year for Republicans on the state level. We are currently in the minority by a 49 to 51 margin. On the down-side, due to running for the Federal House seat, Jon Elrod is giving up IN-97. Of course, we failed to put a candidate up to retain this seat, so we are starting this effort needing two victories to tie and three to get the majority back.

Here are the contested races where the incumbent is NOT running for re-election, which should be considered the most vulnerable:

(Read more after the leap)

Just released from SurveyUSA:

3 Weeks to Indiana Democratic Gubernatorial Primary, Long Thompson Has Momentum: In a Democratic Primary for Governor of Indiana today, 04/14/08, 3 weeks till votes are counted, Jill Long Thompson pulls ahead of Jim Schellinger and leads now by 8 points, according to a SurveyUSA poll conducted exclusively for WHAS-TV Louisville KY and WCPO-TV Cincinnati OH. Today, it’s Long Thompson 46%, Schellinger 38%. Compared to an identical SurveyUSA poll released two weeks ago, Long Thompson is up 7, Schellinger is down 3. Long Thompson, who represented Indiana’s 4th Congressional District from 1988 through 1994, has made inroads among men, where Indianapolis architect Schellinger had led by 21, now leads by 5. Among women, Long Thompson had led by 13, now leads by 20. In greater Indianapolis, Schellinger had led by 9, now leads by 3. In Southern Indiana, Schellinger had led by 22, now is tied. Among white voters, Schellinger had led by 3, now trails by 5. The winner of the primary will face incumbent Republican Governor Mitch Daniels. 16% of likely voters are undecided. The outcome is anything but certain.

Source: SurveyUSA