V20, N 2 Thursday, Aug. 14, 2014 Republicans’ Fort Wayne conundrum can nominee Matt Kelty Mayor Henry had more self-destructed and was than a 10-to-1 money convicted of campaign finance charges allow- edge over Harper ing Henry to win easily. In 2011, Fort Wayne By BRIAN A. HOWEY Republicans witnessed INDIANAPOLIS – Almost a genera- a primary blood bath tion ago, Fort Wayne Mayor Paul Helmke with more than $1.5 pushed through an extensive annexation million spent by current process that was supposed to have brought SD15 Senate nominee tens of thousands of Republican voters into Liz Brown, current IEDC Indiana’s sec- Chairman Eric Doden, ond largest city. and Paula Hughes, who Four terms won the primary with of Democratic a 5,000-vote margin Mayor Gra- over Brown, but lost to ham Richard Henry by 1,634 votes. and now Tom Within months of Henry have Henry taking the oath created the of office, Fort Wayne most conspicu- Councilman Mitch Harp- ous, long-term example of a city’s minority Fort Wayne Councilman Mitch Harper declared for mayor er declared he would party controlling City Hall. Richard ran two two years ago, but trailed Mayor Tom Henry by a 10-to-1 run. “I wanted to get high tech campaigns in his two decisive fundraising disadvantage by the end of 2013. wins in 1999 and 2003. In 2007, Republi- Continued on page 3 Bayh and Democrats By RICH JAMES MERRILLVILLE – What Evan Bayh is doing to the Indiana Democratic Party is criminal. If convicted by the party faithful, he ought to be banned from Hoosier Demo- cratic activities for life. The former governor and “Congratulations on the 20th U.S. senator left the party in anniversary of Howey Politics. the lurch when he decided at the last minute that he would Your efforts over the past 20 years not seek reelection to the Sen- ate, which essentially handed have made a lasting contribu- the office to Republican Dan tion to our public debate and the Coats a few years back. Indi- ana Democrats pretty much quality of political journalism in thought that was the political our state.” end to Bayh, the son of former U.S. Sen. Birch Bayh, who is - Gov. Mike Pence Page 2 the greatest Democrat to represent their state convention in early June Indiana at any level. and Bayh was nowhere to be seen. But Evan kept the door open Hammond Mayor Thomas McDermott a crack. He would never say never Jr. worked the crowd with an eye on about a political future. And that running for governor. So, too, did John stance froze Indiana Democrats in Gregg, the party’s 2012 gubernatorial terms of lining up a candidate to run candidate who narrowly lost to Repub- for governor in 2016, which in politi- lican Mike Pence. cal years is just days away. With Bayh About that time, McDermott hanging out there somewhere, po- told me that he had it on good author- is a non-partisan newslet- tential gubernatorial candidates were ity that Bayh wasn’t going to run for ter based in Indianapolis and frozen. No one dared try to mount governor. He added that the same Nashville, Ind. It was founded a campaign as long as the possibil- could be said about Gregg. McDermott in 1994 in Fort Wayne. ity existed that Bayh would run. And, was so pumped that he resigned the not being able to mount a campaign Lake County Democratic chairmanship It is published by means not being able to raise a dime. to shed the Lake County image while WWWHowey Media, LLC he ran for governor. 405 Massachusetts Ave., And then the unthinkable Suite 300 Indianapolis, IN happened, as far as McDermott 46204 is concerned. With a nuance here and another one there, Bayh was seemingly back in the Brian A. Howey, Publisher picture. Mark Schoeff Jr., Washington While he was far from being a Jack E. Howey, Editor candidate, he continued to keep Mary Lou Howey, Editor the others at bay. McDermott put any intention of running Maureen Hayden, Statehouse for governor on hold and an- Matthew Butler, Daily Wire nounced that he would seek reelection as Hammond mayor Subscriptions next year. He would have, how- HPI, HPI Daily Wire $599 ever, done that even if he were running for governor. HPI Weekly, $350 Despite all the talk about Mc- Ray Volpe, Account Manager Dermott and Gregg running for 317.602.3620 governor, nothing has changed. email: [email protected] No one is running until Bayh comes down from the mount and makes a statement. And Contact HPI even though Democrats are www.howeypolitics.com Former governor Evan Bayh meets the press in July, upset with Bayh, he will win if [email protected] saying a decision on the gubernatorial race will be de- he runs for a couple of reasons. Howey’s Cabin: 812.988.6520 termined at a later date. (HPI Photo by Brian A. Howey) First, Democrats will elect Howey’s cell: 317.506.0883 Bayh because he is, well, a Bayh. And secondly, more than Washington: 202.256.5822 just Democrats want to oust Business Office: 317.602.3620 Bayh kept saying that his twin Pence. v sons would graduate from high school © 2014, Howey Politics Indiana. in late May and that he planned to Rich James has been writing All rights reserved. Photocopy- move back to Indiana when they about state and local government headed to college. And Bayh strongly and politics for more than 30 ing, Internet forwarding, fax- hinted that when the sons graduated years. He is a columnist for The ing or reproducing in any form, that he would make an announcement Times of Northwest Indiana. whole or part, is a violation of about governor. But May came and federal law without permission went and still there was nothing. from the publisher. Indiana Democrats held Page 3 the most profound legacy? HPI’s 20th Anniversary Ponder the careers and terms of these seven men and email your thoughts to [email protected]. On Oct. 16 at the Antelope Club in Indianapolis, Power 50 on governors the HPI 20th Anniversary Power 50 list will be unveiled. By BRIAN A. HOWEY Beyond two-decade Power 50, HPI readers will be rating INDIANAPOLIS – Since Indiana governors were Indiana's Congressional delegations, legislators, mayors, given the option to seek reelection after Gov. Doc Bowen’s party leaders, lobbyists and political operatives. election in 1972, six of the seven men to serve have opted Howey Politics Indiana began publishing on Aug. to do so, and five have been successful. 11, 1994 in Fort Wayne. v Republican Govs. Bowen, Robert Orr and Mitch Dan- iels and Democrats Evan Bayh and Frank O’Bannon all won second terms. Daniels defeated Gov. Joe Kernan in 2004. Gov. Mike Pence appears to be pre- paring for a reelection campaign, though his activities also suggest a potential presi- dential or vice presidential run in 2016. In celebrating HPI’s 20th Anniver- sary, we will be asking our subscribers to rate Indiana’s modern era governors. We will be asking our readers which governor had the most policy suc- Gov. Evan Bayh greets former Govs. Robert Orr (left) and Doc Bowen in his State- cess? Which one had the greatest political house office (South Bend Tribune Photo). impact? Which of these governors created after the Aug. 7 edition was published. Fort Wayne, from page 1 HPI responded: “Then you need to fix your web- site. I sent you an email via your website. So, how’s the the word out to some prominent people,” Harper told the campaign going?” Fort Wayne Journal Gazette in August, 2012. The thought Harper responded, “Or you could try a bit harder.” process was that the former legislator’s early declaration In another email, HPI asked Harper to update his would create a fait accompli scenario for the two-term city fundraising totals, how Henry is vulnerable and the is- councilman. sues he would concentrate on. Harper responded, “The But now just 15 months before the election, students in one of my classes at St. Francis would know Harper has created more doubts than an air of inevitabil- why those questions are declined, in a business or political ity. While Mayor Henry reported $303,376 cash on hand in setting.” his 2013 finance report filed last January, Harper reported So that’s what we know about the Harper cam- raising $30,475, and had only $24,475.59 cash on hand. paign. He has $30,000 to show for two years of a declared HPI attempted to contact Harper last week to get candidacy. Other questions on campaign themes, the a better read on his campaign and any additional finances. candidate’s campaign team, Henry’s perceived vulnerabil- An email address obtained via his campaign website didn’t ity, and how much Harper thinks he’ll need to raise were bring a response, which was reported in the Aug. 7 HPI ignored. edition. Multiple local Republican sources, all speaking on “For the record, I have received no emails from background, have expressed doubts about Harper’s ability you nor have you called,” Harper said in an email to HPI to raise money and effectively communicate. One ex- Page 4 plained, “You can’t raise much money when a conversation As things stand to date, a Harper challenge to with a donor takes 90 minutes. I don’t know anyone who Mayor Henry seems the most likely scenario given that can write a check who thinks he can win.” alternative candidacies aren’t materializing to date.