Four years after a primary contest that our community still talks about, this year’s Indiana Democratic primary is shaping up to be boring; with virtually no primary contests in our community, and the shape of the Democratic field virtually set.
The primary election energy is centered on the Republican side, as Sen. Richard Lugar fights for his political life against reactionary, greedy, super rich, somewhat bigoted tea party-flavored Republicans attacking Lugar as an impediment to their goals of taking everything for the 1 percent; leaving nothing for the 99 percent.
It doesn’t help that Lugar is embroiled in a residency controversy for being registered to vote at an address where he hasn’t lived for a couple of decades.
Lugar adheres to the U.S. Constitution’s qualifications for being a senator. But in the wake of the Charlie White mess, being registered to vote at an address where you don’t actually live is embarrassing and gives Lugar’s radical Republican opponents, not to mention Democrats, a cudgel to bludgeon him with.
The tea party and radical Republicans are out to destroy Sen. Lugar. Their tool is state Treasurer Richard Mourdock, who opposed the bailouts that saved GM and Chrysler. His ultra conservative stands are anathema to our community.
Mourdock is a cipher to our Black community. To my knowledge he employs no Blacks in his office. If he does, they don’t hold significant positions.
But Mourdock isn’t the only top Indiana GOP candidate this year with a paucity of Black employees.
Take Mike Pence, the front runner in the Republican race to succeed Gov. Mitch Daniels, who has been a congressman for 12 years from Indiana. Does Pence have any African-Americans on his staff – in either of his Indiana offices in Anderson, Muncie or Richmond, Indiana? Or his Washington office?
More puzzling are the lack of Black Republicans visibly supporting Pence.
At this point eight years ago in the governor’s race, there were several African-Americans out front supporting Daniels’ campaign. Daniels was visible in Black communities and openly courting Black support.
So far, Black Republicans have been oddly quiet about Pence. He’s made absolutely no effort to campaign within the state’s largest Black community. Other than a brief interview last month, Pence has been invisible to Black media.
Pence is the first Republican governor front runner in years that’s openly ignoring the state’s largest Black community. The lack of visible support so far for Pence by Black Republicans in Indy is disturbing and dangerous.
On the other side, the Democratic ticket in Indiana and Indianapolis is set. President Barack Obama is running hard for re-election with a chance to again win Indiana.
The bitter Republican Senate battle provides an opening for Joe Donnelly to capture Lugar’s Senate seat. Donnelly, the three term Congressman from South Bend has a blue collar appeal to Democrats in Indiana’s small towns and rural areas. His standing up for working people also appeals to those in Indiana’s cities, including Indianapolis.
No Democrat can win in Indiana without a strong voter turnout from the Democrats largest vote getting county, which is now Marion; not Lake and northwest Indiana. Donnelly could garner that strong support here.
So could the Democrats’ governor candidate, John Gregg.
Gregg’s been on the hot seat recently because he wasn’t seen as forceful enough speaking out in support of the thousands of union workers who protested the right-to-work push in the Legislature.
Gregg shares Donnelly’s ability to connect with working class Hoosiers. If Gregg works it right, he can also connect with Democrats here in Marion County.
The Democrats’ county ticket is solidified with no primary challenges in the races for county treasurer, coroner and surveyor.
County treasurer, though, is a risk with Claudia Fuentes the party’s replacement for Mike Rodman who resigned at the end of January for family reasons. Fuentes would be the county’s first Hispanic countywide elected official.
Karen Horseman was elected to City-County Council from a district seat and Jose Salinas was elected a Superior Court judge. But no Hispanic has ever been elected to a major countywide office.
Fuentes’ bid for election to a full term as treasurer must run up against the racism that exists in this city/county against minorities in general and Hispanics in particular.
It’s imperative that Fuentes gets out and meets and lets our Black community become comfortable with her. She served as County Auditor Billie Breaux’s chief deputy. Breaux’s visibly strong support will help Fuentes keep the treasurer’s office for the Democrats, but they can’t take the Black vote for granted.
On the Democratic ticket, all the Black legislative candidates are unopposed in the May 6 primary; incumbent Black legislators Sens. Jean Breaux and Greg Taylor and Reps. Cherrish Pryor, John Bartlett, Greg Porter and Vanessa Summers are unopposed in the primary.
Surprisingly, Robin Shackleford, who’s running to succeed Bill Crawford in District 98, has no primary opposition.
In the 7th District congressional primary, Rep. André Carson faces three opponents; one unknown and two known.
The unknown is Woodrow Wilcox, a supposed Lake County man who’s run for office up there. I don’t believe Wilcox lives in the 7th District, but that’s not required under the U.S. Constitution.
Pierre Pullins ran against Carson in 2008 and 2010 and is running again. So is perennial candidate Bobby Kern, whose annual campaigns have become a major embarrassment to the process.
Rev. Mmoja Ajabu has publicly announced he’s running against Carson as an independent in the November election. But Ajabu’s petition of candidacy, backed by several thousand signatures, has yet to be certified. Until that happens, he’s not an official qualified candidate.
And given the problems presidential candidate Rick Santorum and Republican gubernatorial candidate Jim Wallace have had obtaining enough valid ballot petition signatures, it’s not a slam dunk that Ajabu will ultimately qualify for the ballot.
Finally is a crisis looming over the official boundaries of the state’s largest school district? Details next column.
See ‘ya next week.
You can email comments to Amos Brown at acbrown@aol.com.
