In the Republican primary in Indiana’s Second Congressional District, Martin Dolan has announced that he is withdrawing his candidacy. He indicates that he is withdrawing for personal reasons: being a candidate is a time consuming activity that doesn’t lend itself well to spending time with and providing for one’s family.

At this time, he is throwing his support to Jack Jordan. Dolan is none too happy with Republican lawmakers endorsing Jackie Walorski (see, e.g.), feeling that during the primary process, elected officials in the party ought to remain neutral.

Jordan describes himself as a “non-politician” and “citizen-candidate.” His “stances” page looks to me like a litany of standard conservative talking points. He’s also a graduate of Jerry Falwell’s Liberty University who spent most of his career at Eli Lilly. Frankly, I liked Dolan’s positions better. I certainly didn’t agree with a lot of them, but the explanations were more thoughtful than the overly simplistic bullet points on Jordan’s page.

Martin Dolan, a candidate seeking the Republican nomination for the Second District of Indiana was kind enough to pass along a link to his website. His bio looks solid – though, I suppose a candidate’s website wouldn’t be doing its job if a bio looked otherwise.

He’s an IT guy with a military background and says he’s running because of what he sees as the ineffectiveness of President Obama and the current Congress. I disagree with some of his premises but won’t argue with them at the moment. Go to his site and judge for yourself.

None of Indiana’s Congressional races were even close with all of the incumbents winning re-election comfortably: IN-01 Visclosky (D); IN-02 Donnelly (D); IN-03 Souder (R); IN-04 Buyer (R); IN-05 Burton (R); IN-06 Pence (R); IN-07 Carson (D); IN-08 Ellsworth (D); and IN-09 Hill (D).

Blue Indiana has a handy chart listing Congressional fund raising number for the quarter. Of note:

Indiana’s 2nd, 7th, and 8th appear locked up for the freshmen Democrats, Donnelly, Ellsworth, and Carson, respectively, in those seats. Their challengers have not raised any money to speak of.

Baron Hill seems to be doing very well in Indiana’s 9th with $684k on hand compared to Sodrel’s $263k.

In Indiana’s 3rd District, Mike Montagano has a disturbingly low cash on hand of $31k compared to Mark Souder’s $450k. However, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has been putting money into this race, so that might explain why his cash on hand has been allowed to get low and provide him with money to finish strong.

In Indiana’s 4th District, Nels Ackerson has put up some solid numbers, but he has his work cut out for him with $100k on hand compared to Buyer’s $800k. In fact, I received a copy of Buyer’s press release which states his intent to “own” the airwaves. We’ll see if his PAC money can buy this thing or if Ackerson has enough money to make a run for it.

Visclosky (IN-01), Burton (IN-05), and Pence (IN-06) also seem to have things locked up fairly well based on a comparison of their war chests to the money of their challengers.

The Lafayette Journal & Courier had an article a few days ago primarily focused on the upcoming match up in the 4th Congressional District between 8 term incumbent, Steve Buyer and Westfield attorney Nels Ackerson. Ackerson sports an impressive resume and the ability to raise money that might give Buyer his first serious challenge; though it’ll be tough sledding in the heavily Republican Fourth District.

Other races in Indiana will be:

IN-01: Pete Visclosky versus Mark Leyva. Hard to think Visclosky is vulnerable.
IN-02: Joe Donnelly versus Luke Puckett. I think Tony Zirkle got like 5,000 votes.
IN-03: Mark “term limits” Souder versus Mike Montagano.
IN-05: Dan Burton v. Mary Etta Ruley.
IN-06: Mike Pence v. Barry Welsh.
IN-07: Andre Carson v. John Elrod.
IN-08: Brad Ellsworth v. Greg Goode.
IN-09: Baron Hill v. Mike Sodrel. The re-re-re-match. It’s like Groundhog’s Day down there.

I’ve resisted commenting on Tony Zirkle’s latest antics because I think he’s something of a side show. Tempting as it is to pretend otherwise, he’s not really representative of the GOP. He’s running in the IN-02 primary, trying to get a shot at unseating Democratic incumbent Joe Donnelly.

But, really, I’m not made of stone. The man went to speak in front of honest to god Illinois Nazis. I’ve seen the Blues Brothers a couple dozen times. You have to pay attention when your favorite movie comes to life.

Elwood: Illinois Nazis.
Jake: I hate Illinois Nazis.

Lest there be any idea that Mr. Zirkle was unaware of who these fellows were:

Tony Zirkle, who is seeking the Republican nomination in northern Indiana’s 2nd District, stood in front of a painting of Hitler, next to people wearing swastika armbands and with a swastika flag in the background for the speech to the American National Socialist Workers Party in Chicago on Sunday.

Zirkle says that people who haven’t talked to him aren’t very credible when speculating about his motives. But, come on: Illinois Nazis. The linked article also has this tidbit:

The event was not the first time Zirkle has raised controversy on race issues. In March, Zirkle raised the idea of segregating races in separate states. Zirkle said Tuesday he’s not advocating segregation, but said desegregation has been a failure.

That line reminds me of an old Murphy Brown episode where Wallace Shawn (the Sicilian from The Princess Bride) plays Stuart Best, a former FYI anchor who gets elected to Congress through a coalition to the right of David Duke and says something like, “Slavery is an ugly word. . . . But, let me tell you a word that is worse: ‘Welfare.'”

Maureen Groppe has an article in the Louisville Courier Journal entitled “Congress’ Hoosiers Showed Independence in ’07.” But that headline is not entirely accurate. Indiana’s House Republicans — Pence, Burton, Buyer, and Souder — were not notable for their bipartisan efforts.

On the other hand, Bayh, Hill, Donnelly, Ellsworth, and Lugar were noted for crossing party lines from time to time. No word on Carson or Visclosky, though Carson didn’t do much in the way of voting last year and Visclosky presumably voted Democratic like his counterparts Pency, Burton, Buyer, and Souder.

The article mentions that Bayh broke with his party to allow the government to conduct warrantless surveillance in the United States, and to vote against a requirement that utilities get some of their power from renewable resources. Hill, Donnelly, and Ellsworth also voted for warrantless government wiretaps and against children’s health care. Good going, guys.