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GOP fighting out congressional bids across Indiana

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Primary voters in Indiana's two most-solidly Republican congressional districts have long lists of choices for whom they want to send to Congress.

In the 5th District, they'll decide whether to pick Rep. Dan Burton for what would make 30 years in Congress. In the neighboring 4th District, the likely replacement for retiring Rep. Steve Buyer will be determined.

Also at stake across the state:

— The re-election bid of GOP Rep. Mark Souder in northeastern Indiana's 3rd District, where he's faced a nasty campaign against an auto dealer with deep pockets.

— The potential for a fifth Baron Hill-Mike Sodrel matchup come November in southern Indiana's 9th District.

— The strength of the Republican nominee in southwestern Indiana's 8th District, where the GOP hopes to win the seat being vacated by Democratic Rep. Brad Ellsworth, who is running for the Senate.

Burton, Indiana's current longest-serving congressman, faces six challengers who have argued it's time for him to go. His opponents include physician John McGoff, who received 45 percent of the vote in a narrow 2008 primary loss to Burton; former state Rep. Luke Messer, who has strong ties with many state GOP leaders; and 16-year state Rep. Mike Murphy.

The race for Buyer's seat has been a three-month sprint after he announced in late January that he would retire after 18 years in Congress because his wife has been diagnosed with an incurable autoimmune disease. Secretary of State Todd Rokita and state Sens. Brandt Hershman and Mike Young are among 13 candidates in the heavily Republican district.

In the 3rd District, challenger and car dealer Bob Thomas has portrayed Souder as a career politician who isn't a true fiscal conservative. Thomas' ads show Souder's picture next to images of Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

Souder, who was first elected in 1994, scoffs at the idea of being anything but conservative. His ads emphasize his A-plus rating from the NRA and a National Right to Life Committee rating of 100 percent.

Former Fort Wayne City Councilman Tom Hayhurst, who gave Souder a stiff challenge in 2006, is the likely Democratic nominee.

The Republican campaign in the 9th District has focused on whether Sodrel should get a fifth shot at Hill, the Democratic incumbent.

Hill and Sodrel have faced each other in each congressional election since 2002. Sodrel won the seat in 2004, but Hill recaptured it two years later and won the 2008 election with nearly 58 percent of the vote.

Attorney Todd Young of Bloomington has run a well-financed campaign for the nomination, while real-estate investor Travis Hankins of Columbus has sought religious conservative voters who previously have backed Sodrel, the founder of a Jeffersonville-based bus and trucking company that made him a multimillionaire.

Eight Republicans are on the primary ballot for the seat now held by Ellsworth, who was considered a strong favorite for re-election before deciding to seek the Senate seat being vacated by Evan Bayh.

Heart surgeon Larry Bucshon of Newburgh has been backed by national Republicans but opposed by some tea party activists because of those ties. State Rep. Trent Van Haaften is unopposed for the Democratic bid.

State Rep. Jackie Walorski has received strong backing in her bid for the Republican nomination against Democratic Rep. Joe Donnelly to set up a potentially bruising campaign for northern Indiana's 2nd District seat.

Only little-known challengers are on either party's ballot against Rep. Mike Pence, the third-ranking Republican in the U.S. House, and Democratic Reps. Pete Visclosky and Andre Carson.


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  1. Well, we could blame ABC because they haven't advertised the INDY 500....not during the HUGE TV rating shows like Dancing with the Stars (of which IICS driver Helio Castroneves is a former champion). He never won a CART championship, did he?

    We could blame the new car...because it's ugly and has a V6 that has less horsepower than the pace car. CART (to my knowledge) never had that problem with cars they presented at the speedway years 1979 through 1995.

    We could blame the fencepost, but that would be crass. Or maybe Danica? Or maybe Jean Alesi....or boost increases from constant rules tampering. Maybe we could blame Penske who still is winning everything as usual.

    Maybe we can blame the world for not understanding the the great Indy gods who regularly twist things in such ways that we mere mortals must only accept, but never question.

    So, it does beg the question....who is responsible if the series and Indy continues to flounder? Are the responsibilities so diffuse and complicated that no one really is to blame for it's fall from grace?

    I urge the speedway to sign on for 7 more years of ABC coverage and 7 more years of NBC Sports Network coverage. It been win-win so far....*cough* *cough*

  2. "They're problem was thinking they were bigger than the institution that made their existence possible. That turned out to be a mistake."

    The above quote made by Disciple shows his continued inability to grasp a simple concept: CART is dead. Twice. It provided a brilliant stage for some of the best open wheel racing in all the past century of racing. It's gone DOOD, get over it.

    PLEASE explain, Mr. Disciple of INDYCAR, why you continually hammer home, even on the eve of the 2012 Indy 500, this same point...over and over? Seriously, why does the legacy of CART haunt you so much?

    The same problems that affected the sport for over a century of AOW racing STILL affect it now. Your answers (or lack thereof) belittle the very sport you claim to love. Indy rots in your hands yet you request status quo. You negate salient points with drivel...always.

    Indy is not going to die. But, it is dying...are you willing to accept that? "Indy is a hot mess"....it's true. Yet you want it that way? What is wrong with you?

  3. I just want to make sure I am reading this right - Wellpoint is eliminating 112 employees. Wellpoint is a customer of Repucare. Repucare is creating 82 jobs. I sure hope they are hiring Wellpoint employees. Does not make sense!

  4. Triscuts...love um!

  5. Of course the fair will go on. Don't you big city reporters understand county fairs? Get outside the beltway and see what life is really like!

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