One of the Indiana House races to watch is the one between Jackie Walorski (R-Lakeville) and Bob Kovach (D-Mishawaka) to represent District 21. In some respects, Walorski is the Representative most caught in the crossfire of Governor Daniels most controversial initiatives. She represents a district that falls between South Bend and Elkhart, meaning that Time Zones and the Toll Road are big deals in her district.
Readers may recall the tension between St. Joseph County and Elkhart Counties with respect to the time zone. St. Joseph County wanted to move to the Central Time Zone. Elkhart County did not want to move to Central and also did not want the time line in their back yard, so they did all they could, and were ultimately successful, in preventing St. Joseph County’s request from being granted. So, Walorski was on the front lines of that debate. And, obviously the Toll Road privatization is a big deal in that part of the state. So, the recent allegations that the State is looking into privatizing the South Shore line cannot be welcome news.
Also, I see that James Wensits, writing for the South Bend Tribune, had an article on challenger Bob Kovach’s endorsement by the local construction worker union. Normally, a Democrat getting an endorsement from a union wouldn’t be big news, but in this case it was a bit of a surprise since the construction union was in favor of the Toll Road privatization because it will theoretically result in more construction work in building more roads. Turns out that the union was not at all happy that Walorski voted for “right to work” legislation.
Trying to dig into the race a little bit, I see that Ms. Walorski filed her campaign finance report for the period ending October 13, 2006 this morning. Unfortunately, the only thing available online at the moment is a summary. (Note for those trying to search for her records, she’s registered under the name “Jacqueline Walorski Swihart.”) But, it looks like she’s raised about $180,000 in the past 6 months and has $11,000 on hand still. Kovach’s record is not showing anything filed yet for this period. It looks like the report is not actually due until October 20. So, I have no idea how that kind of money compares to other candidates generally, but for reference, it looks like a bundle compared to this time last cycle where she had received about $30,000 and had about $17,000 left on hand. And Troy “I’ll Never Vote For It” Woodruff, her fellow traveler on the Mitch Daniels Path to Political Oblivion had received about $60,000 this time in 2004. It’ll be interesting to see where all of Rep. Walorski’s money is coming from.
While Kovach was formerly a mayor of Mishawaka and a State Senator, he apparently hasn’t run for state office recently, so there isn’t much in the way of financial records on file. He only has a pre-primary statement on file which shows him having raised $2,500 as of April 7, 2006. But I expect his campaign finance report for the current period will be filed in the next couple of days.
I haven’t seen any poll numbers out of that district or anything, but it seems like if she’s raising that much money, the race has to be seen as competitive — quite a change from 2004 where she took about 65% of the vote.
The report is due 10/20 for the period ending 10/13.
For our friends down in Southern Indiana, I believe you can trace your time zone issues directly back to Jackie Walorski. I believe she had a “scheduling conflict” and missed the committee vote on daylight-savings time. If memory serves it passed 6-5 and the ball was rolling. Had Ms. Walorski made that meeting and voted, against it, it would have failed out of committee. The amount of time and energy this cost Indiana cannot be totaled. What a mess!
Jim,
I remember reading maybe in the INDY Star about Walorski missing this vote which we both know she probably missed on purpose because of the differing opinions of people in her district on time zone preference.What a cop out!These people are sent to vote on things such as this.Take a side and live with it.
I do not know much about the politics of this part of the state but I would think DST and the toll road issue would come into play.If I lived there and did not agree with Ms.Walorskis positions on these issues I would not vote for her regardless of party affiliation.
Part of my state Reps district in Daviess county (Dave Crooks) is heavily Republican but most will support Crooks (D) because the Governor is very unpopular down here and Crooks voted against DST predicting this mess in advance.Woodruff will go also in my opinion.Both he and his challenger Kreg Battles are running relentless tv ads down here.
The one that makes me laugh is a ad by Woodruff accusing Battles of desperate tactics because Battles accuses Woodruff of getting pay back for his DST vote because Woodruffs wife who used to work for Toyota ended up landing a $42,000 a year state job at the Vincennes District on hwy 41.Woodruuf states his wife got the job on her own because of a AS degree from Vincennes University.
Now years ago I worked for the state from 1989-1994 and politics is the way you get hired and the more the job pays the better connected you better be end of story!!!Also the job was said to be unadvertised which I also saw at my tenure for the state!
Just as a point of order, the district that Walorski currently represents (21st) is the southern half of Saint Joseph and Elkhart counties. It excludes much of South Bend, Mishawaka, and Elkhart. I guess you could classify it as mainly rural, however there has been housing growth. The voting base is about 52% Saint Joseph and 48% Elkhart and leans republican. That may come as a mild shock to folks outside the area as most see Saint Joseph as a center for democrats, i.e. Pat Bauer.
Perhaps this is another good time to remind everyone how important it is to vote. In both our country and state very important issues are directly upon us. My father use to say, “Don’t vote, don’t bitch.” Those words always make me smile on election day.
Yep, I’m still here, trolling along (wink).
Hey Phil, I’m thinkin’ Mrs W never worked for Toyota. I looked into it for ya. Just wanted to clear that up. I’ve seen you post that a couple times and I just wanted to make sure the gen pop knew what was what.
Additionally, IMHO candidates who are afraid to commit to their positions on actual issues have no choice but attack another candidate’s family rather than the candidate him/herself. So yes, I’d say there’s some desperation on the part of the district 64 challenger. What’s his name? I can’t seem to think of it…
Have a blessed night.
“most see Saint Joseph as a center for democrats, i.e. Pat Bauer.”
I know a lot of my posts seem ‘needling’ to borrow a term, but honestly, I like y’all here at Masson’s. You give me reason to think, solidify my thoughts, opinons, etc. You challenge me! I enjoy this blog! You should keep in mind my writing is only a reflection of my sense of humor. I’m really pretty easy to get along with…you’d enjoy a night at the local pub I swear!
I have an honest, sincere question. I’m not needling, I’m not being snarky, I’m serious…
I just don’t get why Pat Bauer has been in politics as long as he has. Even before I identified myself as one party affiliation or another (I still punch several buttons on election day, mind you), he just seemed, well, odd to me. He’s almost cult like, somewhat scary to me…what is it about Pat that makes people follow him so, so, what’s the word? So, admiringly, so blindly, so devotedly, so, well, ya know?
bp,
I guess Troy doesn`t know where his wife worked then because he`s the one who said it on meet your lawmakers a PBS broadcast last year.
He mentioned how this was a difficult vote for him because of his wife would be working in a different time zone.
Now go away!
Come back November 8th and we`ll see how your guy did!
Well that’s not very nice considering I JUST complimented you all on how much I enjoyed being here.
You seem so bitter Phil, why is that?
I’m willing to bet half a dozen White Castle sliders that RiShawn GannetFace and British Petroleum are really the same person.
Who’ll take that bet?
owe me 6.
Branden:
Not a chance.
Also, I’d appreciate refraining from the name calling. Belittle each other’s points of view as much as you’d like, but I’m not a big fan of personal attacks.
(End of nanny-mode.)
Thank you Doug, and for the record. BP doesn’t stand for British Petroleum, puhleeze. It’s just initials for a name.
Not that it will make a difference cuz I’m wrong just because I generally choose to pet elephants at the zoo instead of donkeys, but Mrs. W used to work for the cable company in the area, which is headquartered in St. Louis, which is Central time. I believe the headquarters of that company is what was being referred to in the broadcast you referred to Phillip. I repeat…Mrs. Woodruff never worked for Toyota. If you haven’t got that fact down, what else don’t you have exactly right Phil?
Doug,
Acknowledged. I suppose I’m a little annoyed at the pseudonymous ones around here.
For all the criticism of LP libertarians I do on your blog, I’ve gotta give Mike Sylvester and Mike Kole credit on this front — they come right out and use their own names.
I don’t think political speech has gotten so suppressed under W that people really need to resort to pseudonyms. U.S. citizens of non-Arabic descent would seem to have little to fear. Therefore posts from people who use their real names bear just a touch more credibility for me.
Anyway, I’ll strive to be more creative and substantive in my criticisms of RiShawn and bp’s posts. :)
Excellent. Pseudonyms are an interesting topic now that you mention it. I think they’re more part and parcel of the Internet culture than particularly tied into political speech and the current climate — though Bush’s fear mongering can’t help things any.
Certainly knowing the background of a writer helps one evaluate their credibility. But, I’ve also found that simply reading enough posts from a particular pseudononymous (is that a word?) author lets you form a pretty good judgment on their credibility.
Over at John Cole’s Balloon Juice blog, there was a particular culture of “spoofing” — where someone would either hijack an existing name or simply make up a persona. There was a guy who went under the name “DougJ” who would post the most outrageous right wing comments he could think of. Sadly, it was not always obvious he was just joking, political discourse being what it is.
But, I’m rambling before my first cup of coffee. Always dangerous.
Pseudonyms, in the proper context, can be valuable. All of the Federalist Papers were written under pseudonyms, which were classical references, and in themselves made a sort of political statement. They can also allow a well known person to inject comments into the public debate, or to get a feel for public’s feelings, where, if his or her identity were known, it might change the character of the discussion. While drawn from quasi-fiction, I think of Shakespeare’s Henry V roaming his camp before Agincourt to learn the temper of his men.
In terms of “internet” culture I would guess the use of pseudonyms is mostly an affectation, though a harmless one where the comments are serious and avoid insult or injury.
In my own case, limiting myself (usually) to just a first name leaves a little ambiguity. Perhaps doing that makes me feel, somehow, as though I were well known, which I am not.
bp,
All right, you’ve got it. You can claim your prize if the denizens of Doug’s blog ever have a get-together.
The interesting question is — does the loser of the bet merely have to buy the White Castles, or eat them as well? ;-)
Getting back to the Kovach-Walorski race for a moment. Remember that both polls done in St. Joseph County showed a 3 point difference in the decision between Central and Eastern. The first one was 49-46 in favor of Central and the second 47-44 in favor of Central. There was no consensus in this county either way as to which time zone we should be on. Although, going off of the polls you could say there as a very small preference towards Central. But both polls are a tie inside the margain of error. Also, in talking to different candidates, almost all of them say the time zone is not nearly the issue that the Toll Road is up here.
The fact that neither Eastern or Central could get over the 50% mark indicates a split mindset among voters in SJC. Also the fact that the two polls came back with the same difference (3%) seems to be a pretty good indication of people’s feelings towards the time zone.
At the end of the day it was not the result that made people mad, it was how it was done.
My suspicion is that those who didn’t get what they wanted with respect to DST and/or time zones are far more likely to base their vote on the time issue than those who did get what they wanted.
Thanks Branden, but I think I’ll just settle for a cold beer and call it even, eh? I wouldn’t torture you by making you actually eat those horrible things. :-)
I think people (by which I mean D pols) “follow” Bauer, because of (a) he’s a fundraising machine;(b) it’s the old-timey party apparatus in play and/or party loyalty; and (c) he has a looooong memory.
Didn’t Kovach used to be O’Bannon’s legislative director, or am I thinking of someone else?
Nice catch lawgeekgurl. You are correct. Kovach was O’Bannon’s right hand person….and Pat Bauer does have a looooong memory. Nice to hear from the left coast. Did the fog ever clear?
I love Pat Bauer. He does not back down and takes no sh*t from anyone. For someone who is such a lightning rod and a pinata for Republicans statewide, the St. Joseph county Republican party barely got someone to run against him this year. Must be a trend, because they failed to find opponents for two other state rep candidates elsewhere in the county, including Ryan Dvorak who the county Republicans had on a “wanted” poster on their website earlier in the year.
Love him, hate him, learn to live with him. He’s going to be Speaker again.
“My suspicion is that those who didn’t get what they wanted with respect to DST and/or time zones are far more likely to base their vote on the time issue than those who did get what they wanted.”
Good point Doug I think this issue is vastly underrated and it’s gonna come back to haunt good old Bait and Switch’s cronies. I don’t know why more candidates aren’t mentioning the screwed up time zone that was forced upon us. I was at 5 time zone hearings and trust me, despite what any suspect poll might say-despite the lies told to the DOT by Bait and Switch Mitch and his law firm, central time was the overwhelming choice. This is a defining issue where are so called representatives/Republican incumbents showed their disdain for what the people wanted. We’re living this lie/abomination against nature 24/7.
Just another P/OFF voter