Schellinger Finally Concedes!

The Indy Star reports:

Jim Schellinger, the Indianapolis architect who fought a campaign for the Democratic nomination for governor to a razor-thin finish last night, conceded the race to Jill Long Thompson this afternoon.

“Jim Schellinger just phoned Jill to concede,” Thompson communications director Jeff Harris said.

With all but two precincts counted out of 5,230 precincts across the state, Long Thompson led by 7,102 votes, according to unofficial figures from The Associated Press, which earlier declared her the winner.

Which allows me to use this again!

YouTube Direct 

Just When You thought she might get the hang of the job….

The incompetence of Beth White never ceases to amaze me. Just received an email that explained the Marion County GOP Chairman “lost” his Precinct Committeeman spot because the Clerk put him on the wrong precinct ballot. No worries because he could always appoint himself to any random open PC position anyway. But its the principle of it all - if she can’t get a PC position right, what makes anyone think she isn’t going to screw up something a little more important.

Never mind we had precincts not open up until late afternoon or not at all in May 2007.

Mike Pence for President…in 2012?

Jonathan Martin of Politico.com is reporting some interesting political news to Hoosiers:

Another entrant for 2012/2016?

Here’s a new one: Rep. Mike Pence (IN).

Upside: Evangelical, fiscal conservative, good with the media (he’s a former talk show host)
Downside: He’s a fairly junior member of the House and is virtually unknown beyond conservative circles in DC and voters in his eastern Indiana district.

But he seems at least curious about the national stage. Why else would he keynote the South Carolina GOP’s Silver Elephant fundraising gala later this month?

If he does eventually make a run, he’ll already have a toehold in the Palmetto State. Tim Cameron notes that his direct mail consultant is South Carolina-based Starboard Communications.

Congressman Pence would certainly make an interesting choice. His name has even been tossed around during this presidential cycle as potential Veep pick.

I had the pleasure of sitting down with Mike Pence not too long after Hoosier Access first launched last August at the Midwest Republican Leadership Conference. Knowing the “Hoosier Hysteria” would be hog wild for a Pence candidacy, I prodded him about any potential higher political endeavors he might pursue. Check it out after the leap.

More 5th CD Breakdown

I found the analysis below of the 5th CD race quite interesting:

The Crossover voting hurt Dan Burton more than John McGoff. Internal polling showed a 20-25 point victory on Election Day (also verified by polling done by a third part- Howey). Voter ID calls in the last 4 days showed undecideds going 60-40 for Burton. So what happened? Conservative primary voters who would have voted for Dan Burton instead participated in Operation Chaos. They won’t do that in 2010.

McGoff didn’t eat into Burton’s victories outside of Indy metro. Dan delivered 3 to 1 margins outside of Marion and Hamilton counties. This has always been Burton’s base (he lost Marion County in his last major challenge). He’s always performed well in the traditional Republican areas in the other 9 counties in the district. McGoff didn’t budge numbers there despite considerable effort (and some nasty mail in the last week).

(Read more after the leap)

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Baron’s Long Nightmare Has Only Begun

Baron Hill carried less than 70% of the votes cast in the 9th District Democratic primary, a record low for him. He carried only 60% of the vote in Bloomington.

These figures exclude undervotes, where people left the ballot blank rather than vote for Baron or any of his challengers. In Harrison County, there over a thousand Democrat undervotes in the Congressional race.

In all, more than one Democratic primary voter in three voted against Baron Hill, or at least declined via undervote to vote for him (in terms of undervotes). The bedrock of the Democratic Party in the 9th District has been betrayed. Baron’s base may be in Bloomington now, but the rest of the district has gone in a different direction from him.

Hillary Clinton carried the 9th District by better than 63%. The only county in the district that Obama carried was Monroe. Most counties in the 9th (including my own, Harrison) gave Hillary Clinton margins upward of 70%.

(Read more after the leap)

Congrats to HA Endorsed Candidates

Congratulations are in order for our endorsed candidates for their victories yesterday!

Way to go:

• Luke Puckett for your victory in the 2nd CD over Joe Roush and Tony “I swear I’m not a Nazi, I just play one in real life” Zirkle.
• State Rep. Dan Leonard for still showing that you serve your constituents well.
• Jim Banks, for topping all of your opponents in the primary and becoming the newest member of the Whitley County Council!

Oh What a Night!

Republican or Democrat, last night was an exciting time to be a politico in Indiana! “Chaos” was out in force yesterday with many Republican voters crossing over to vote in the Democrat primary. Turnout was extraordinarily high all across the state, but Republican ballots cast were way low, especially in typically red counties.

What was more interesting to watch last night wasn’t so much how the presidential race shook down between Hillary and Obama, but how Operation Chaos played it’s role in down ballot races. Incumbents and challengers alike will all claim Chaos hurt them the most. The thing is, they’re right. Everybody is going to have their particular spin. In the 5th CD, Congressman Dan Burton emerged victorious yet again (no surprise there), but with his lowest re-elect numbers ever. A good portion of his supporters are Rush Limbaugh listening conservatives who probably took Rush’s advice to switch over and cause havoc with the Democrats primary. With the intertwining history that Limbaugh and Burton have had with the Clinton’s over the years, for conservatives to cross over and pull the lever for a Clinton seems a bit absurd. But when couched with the idea that a vote for Hillary only prolongs the agony of Democrats, all of the sudden, it becomes quite a palatable choice.

(Read more after the leap)

A Note of Thanks to Poll Workers

I was a poll observer in Hamilton County yesterday. This was the first time that I have spent the entire day at a polling place. While we were working, I read that there was something like 32,000 poll workers in Indiana yesterday at an average age of 72. My observation of the four precincts at our location was that these estimations are very close.

After this experience I have a new appreciation for what our poll workers—and particularly seniors—do for this country. Poll workers are to arrive at the precinct at 5 AM to set up and work the polls until they close at 6 PM. Then they perform an extensive checklist to shut down the precinct. Finally two of the workers have to take all of the equipment back to the County election headquarters to turn in their results. For some of these folk, this is a 15 hour day or longer.

So just a brief “thank you” to the 32,000 poll workers yesterday. Your efforts gave us a smooth election and an opportunity to select the leaders of our country for the next two or four years.

Cross posted at Circle City Pundit

Jim is Gone!

Early this morning JLT beat Diamond Jim in a very close Democrat gubernatorial primary fight. This is all I have to say about that.

YouTube Direct 

Oh, I guess this means we’ll be “welcoming” Jen back to the blogosphere soon too.

Working the Polls

This is one of those times I wish I had a blackberry and I could update the HA on site. But alas, I don’t. Also, it appears we’re all working the polls today either as campaign supporters or as workers in the polls. So make sure to check out Election Journal for your election day updates. They are on top of it!

On the bright side, Hoosier Access Radio will be recording a Election Night Results Show Podcast, this evening at the Dan Burton Party. So be on the lookout for that!

And if you haven’t yet, GO VOTE….Republican!!!!

Go Vote!

The day is finally here! Be sure to exercise your right and go vote!

To find a polling place or for more primary election information, visit the Indiana Secretary of State’s page here: http://www.in.gov/sos/

Election Day Updates

Guys and Gals,

Hoosier Access hopes to be your one stop shop for election day coverage tomorrow!  But as you may have been able to tell, we each have our own races we are working on tomorrow.  So I wanted to give a plug to a group that is going to be in town tomorrow doing their own coverage as well.  Consider them partners in crime.

I’m talking about Election Journal.  They’ve been all over Indiana the last few days looking covering the goings on, but they’ve also been on the prowl for shenanigans.

So tomorrow, check Hoosier Access and Election Journal and help keep us up to date with what you’re seeing as we keep you up to date with what we’re seeing.