Publius at Fort Wayne Politics has a post from a few days ago reporting that Dr. Tom Hayhurst, who looks to be the Democratic Challenger to incumbent Mark Souder for Indiana’s 3rd Congressional District, has raised $104,873 and has $87,648 on hand. By contrast, Rep. Souder has raised $71,119 and has $44,338.
As I read the post, Rep. Souder may file new numbers before January 31. At the very least, it appears clear that Dr. Hayhurst is a serious challenger.
There is no doubt in my mind that Mark Souder will have serious challenges to his attempt for a SEVENTH term in Congress.
Bill Larsen (R) received 21% of the vote in a previous primary contest with Souder. I believe that Larsen will fair even better this year…
Assuming Souder is the Republican nominee (Which I certainly hope he is not), I feel that Tom Hayhurst can give him a very good run for his money and I think Tom Hayhurst can win.
There is currently no Libertarian Candidate for this position. I am the Chairman of The Allen County Libertarian Party. I would guess that at least 90% of the Libertarians in this District will vote for Tom Hayhurst, Souder is a LARGE government Republican who has irritated Libertarians across the entire United States.
Other reasons Souder may well lose:
1. Souder originally ran on a platform that included a pormise to only serve for 12 years. Those 12 years are up and he is running anyway. This will irritate people.
2. Souder is a Chickenhawk. He avoided Viet Nam as a C.O. Tom Hayhusrt is a military Veteran. Tom should take a lot of the military vote from Mark Souder.
Mike Sylvester
Any thoughts as to how much Dr. Hayhurst’s positions square with libertarian ideals?
I am for smaller government, restoring our personal freedoms, actually creating an Energy policy that works, working on identity theft, pension reform, tax reform, not only balancing the general budget, but begin paying down the national debt, restoring our country borders and repealing the Social Security Act pertaining to old age benefits.
You can read my plan for Social Security at http://www.justsayno.50megs.com/pdf/larsen_plan.pdf
Please read Myths: The Political Tool of Choice
http://www.justsayno.50megs.com/pdf/politcal-myths.pdf
Social Security: What Went Wrong?
http://www.justsayno.50megs.com/pdf/social_security.pdf