Thomas Langhorne of the Evansville Courier Press reports that Tom McKenna has entered the Indiana Secretary of State race. The position will be vacated as current Secretary Todd Rokita’s term expires. McKenna, former executive director of the Indiana Department of Commerce, will be seeking the Democratic nomination against Vop Osili, partner and founder of a prominent Indianapolis architectural firm. On the Republican side, so far Fishers Town Councilman Charlie White is the candidate. I don’t know if the Libertarians have fielded a candidate yet.
An added bit of trivia is that, should the election result in a 50/50 split in the House of Representatives, the Secretary of State race is the tie-breaker and determines which party controls the chamber. (That could get messy, I suppose, in the off chance the Libertarians catch fire in 2010).
Doug, the Libertarians have not filed a candidate thus far. As the 2006 LP candidate, I am sad at that, as the job of a third-party statewide candidate is difficult.
The SoS race controls even more than what you list. Automatic ballot access is at stake for third parties. Get 2%, and your candidates are on the ballot without petitioning. The Greens tried to get on in 2006. I am proud of having kept the Libertarians on the ballot through 2010.
Also, the makeup of boards and commissions is determined by the outcome of this race. In any given county, if the Ds finish first, and the Rs second, just in that county’s balloting, the Ds get the majority of appointments to boards, and the Rs the minorities. If the Ls do catch fire just in some regions, it could get interesting, should they come in first or second in a county or even a town where there are boards and commissions.
Also, your ballot looks like it does due to the outcome of this race. Ever wonder why the ordering of candidates goes R-D-L, or D-R-L? It’s because in that county, in the case of R-D-L, Rokita got the most votes in that county, then Pearson, then Kole.
Don’t forget, in the trivia department, that the SoS is the defender of the Great Seal of the State of Indiana. :-)