Goshen News, Goshen, IN

Breaking News

Local News

Related Photos

  • Timothy Yoder submits his ballot as Zack Bontrager, left and Braden Barkes, right, supervise at the Lifepoint Community Church polling station in Goshen Tuesday. SAM HOUSEHOLDER

    120508 Primary Voting 05.jpg

  • Carol Simmons votes Tuesday in the primary election at First English Lutheran Church in Goshen. SAM HOUSEHOLDER

    120508 Primary Voting 02.jpg

  • Norman and Carol Simmons sign in with election clerk Michael Miller at First English Lutheran Church Tuesday during voting. SAM HOUSEHOLDER

    120508 Primary Voting 01.jpg

  • Timothy Yoder, left, and Lance Yoder, right, vote in the primary election at the Lifepoint Community Church polling station in Goshen. SAM HOUSEHOLDER

    120508 Primary Voting 03.jpg
May 8, 2012

Indiana’s long-serving Lugar fights for survival

Associated Press

INDIANAPOLIS — The face of Indiana politics for nearly four decades, Republican Sen. Richard Lugar is battling for political survival against a tea party-backed GOP challenger who says the senator has become more interested in compromising with liberals in Washington than representing conservatives back home.

With Mitt Romney expected to coast to victory in three GOP presidential primaries, Lugar’s re-election fight — the toughest in his 36-year career — is the highest-profile contest in four states with voting Tuesday.

Wisconsin Democrats were preparing to pick a candidate to run against Republican Gov. Scott Walker in just the third gubernatorial recall election in U.S. history. In North Carolina, voters were considering a referendum that would effectively ban same-sex marriages.

Although polls in Indiana signaled momentum for the challenger, Lugar hoped a heavy turnout would propel him to victory against Indiana Treasurer Richard Mourdock.

“If they come, we will win,” Lugar said.

However, absentee voting lagged nearly 40 percent behind that of four years ago, when Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton crisscrossed Indiana in their clash for the Democratic presidential nomination.

Although Lugar’s best shot at victory appeared to be wooing Democrats and independents to take a Republican ballot and vote for him, that strategy also fueled Mourdock’s argument that the incumbent, known for his genial demeanor and reputation as a diplomat, has become too moderate.

During a campaign stop Monday in Elkhart, the challenger said his supporters were eager to get to the polls.

“We have over 1,300 precincts where we will have volunteers working for all 12 hours,” Mourdock said. “We have a tremendous grassroots game.”

Lugar entered the race with a huge fundraising advantage over Mourdock but saw a sharp reversal of fortune in recent months, as outside groups spent millions on ads pounding away at his voting record and his failure to keep a home in Indiana.

Kip Tew, a former state Democratic Party chairman, said he didn’t expect a surge of Democrats turning out for Lugar. The recent wave of TV attack ads from the Lugar campaign against Mourdock has “ruined Dick Lugar’s brand in the state,” he said.

“You might not see as much as if Sen. Lugar had made a positive appeal to being a statesman and trying to govern from the center,” Tew said.

The winner will face Democratic Rep. Joe Donnelly in November.

Lugar said Tuesday he’s appealing to “all the people of Indiana” because the GOP represents only about 35 percent of the registered voters there.

Asked in a CNN interview if he would consider running as an independent if he loses the primary, Lugar said, “No, we cannot have a third-party race in Indiana.” He said he didn’t think his age — 80 — should be an issues, saying he remains active and engaged.

Asked about criticism that he’s been too accommodating to political opponents, the veteran Indiana senator said, “I’ve tried to enlarge the party.”

Romney, the presumptive Republican nominee, has no serious challengers left in Tuesday’s Indiana, West Virginia and North Carolina primaries. Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum dropped out in April and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich left the race last week. Texas Rep. Ron Paul is still contesting the nomination, but he lags far behind in the delegate count.

Text Only
Local News
Parade
Magazine
Click HERE to read all your Parade favorites including Hollywood Wire, Celebrity interviews and photo galleries, Food recipes and cooking tips, Games and lots more.
Poll

Have recent scandals involving the U.S. government altered your opinion of President Obama’s job performance?

Yes, I think less of the president’s job performance
No, my opinions have not been impacted one way or the other
     View Results
Community Calendar
Loading…
Events by eviesays.com
AP Video
Probe Begins After Conn. Commuter Trains Crash NTSB Begins Investigation Into Conn. Train Crash Lotto Fever Sweeps the Country Conn. Commuter Trains Collide; 60 Go to Hospital Coffee Run Leads to Hatchet Hitchhiker Arrest Fmr. IRS Head Insists No Politics in Targeting CDC: Fecal Bacteria Common in Swimming Pools $1 Million in Jewels Stolen at Cannes Film Fest NM Mom Chases Down Child Abductor Raw: Crash Sends Car Into Fla. Pool Raw: Obama Sits Down With Elementary Kids Raw: Bear Falls From Tampa Tree Ousted IRS Chief: Errors Not Caused by Politics Terror Suspect Due in Court in Idaho Friday Raw: Driver Ejected From Truck, Over Bridge Could Tobacco Be the Next Biofuel? Wash. State Releases Draft Rules for Legal Pot Dying Man's Blinks Lead to Murder Conviction Officials: Texas Tornado Likely Had 200 Mph Wind Brothers Arrested in NOLA Parade Shooting