Susan Brooks: 20 Pts Down to Victory 5Th CD Victory Over Mcintosh Came in Final Two Weeks by BRIAN A
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V17, N35 Thursday, May 17, 2012 Susan Brooks: 20 pts down to victory 5th CD victory over McIntosh came in final two weeks By BRIAN A. HOWEY INDIANAPOLIS - Susan Brooks’ 5th CD campaign con- ducted internal polling in mid- April and the news was disheart- ening. She trailed the frontrunner - former congressman David McIntosh - by 20 points. Twenty points? “We conducted two polls,” Brooks said, “one in February and one in mid-April. Both showed David McIntosh with significant leads. But in the February poll – the informed bal- lot – I won.” Half of her April poll occurred hours after New Jersey 5th CD Republican nominee Susan Brooks showing off her phone bank, operated here by Jenna Gov. Chris Christie came to Fish- Knepper. (HPI Photo by Brian A. Howey) ers for a campaign stop that was covered by local TV that evening. thing Howey/DePauw Indiana Battleground Poll picked up And she won with the poll that counted most, on in a very limited sample in the 5th CD. It was too small to May 8 Election Day, defeating McIntosh by about 800 votes be scientifically significant and was not part of the pub- while carrying Marion, Hamilton and Boone counties. The April poll showed a huge set of undecideds. It was some- Continued on page 3 Indiana Roy’s big fall By RICH JAMES MERRILLVILLE - There are winners and losers in every election. But in Northwest Indiana there often is a whole lot more. Such was the case last week. Then, again, what do you expect ‘‘In the next few days, I’ll be choosing when area Democrats go to the polls. my running mate. Experience in the There was a political death, al- private sector and an understanding of though the corpse hasn’t been buried. Nevertheless, rest assured that state government are critical to bring- former Lake County sheriff Roy ing jobs to Hoosiers.” Dominguez’s political career is over. His fall from grace was fast. The im- - Mike Pence, on choosing his running mate pact was thunderous. ‘in the next few days’ Dominguez a few short years ago HOWEY Politics Indiana Page 2 Weekly Briefing on Indiana Politics Thursday, May 17, 2012 was on top of the Lake County politi- primary vote. Ironically, Fajman spent cal world. He was viewed as the nice years as elections chief in the county guy who could get things done. Voter Registration office, but failed So high was his stock that he spent a when it came to her first run for office. year traveling the state to build sup- The county recorder’s posi- www.HoweyPolitics.com port for a 2012 run for governor. tion opened a year or so ago when While wandering Indiana, he the other Mike Brown left that office apparently found out what the voters to become county clerk. Fajman, who Howey Politics told him last week – his days as an is a county Democratic official, fairly Indiana elected official are over. easily won a county precinct caucus to is a non-partisan newsletter Just after leav- become the recorder. based in Indianapolis. It was ing the sheriff’s post in The county recorder’s founded in 1994 in Fort Wayne. January 2011, Domin- race had similarities to guez launched a bid the county assessor’s for 2nd District county contest of 2010. In that Brian A. Howey, Publisher commissioner against Democratic primary, Carol Mark Schoeff Jr., Washington four-term incumbent Ann Seaton, a politi- Jack E. Howey, editor Gerry Scheub. cal unknown from Gary, Beverly K. Phillips, associate Scheub, at defeated Randall Guern- 76, is the oldest public sey, a township assessor, editor official in Lake County. in the primary. When Interesting, he is four years younger Seaton’s sordid past came Subscriptions than Sen. Richard Lugar, who was to light, Republican Hank Adams was $350 annually HPI Weekly ousted, in part, because of his age. elected county assessor. He was the This is one of those rare elections first Republican to win a countywide $550 annually HPI Weekly and where you can say that yard signs office in Lake County since the 1940s. HPI Daily Wire. vote. Scheub, whose name dotted There is a lesson to be 'Call 317.627.6746 lawns across the district, pulled 6,013 learned from the defeat of Fajman and votes, more than double the 2,715 Guernsey. First of all, voters don’t take received by Dominguez. the time to find out who is running Contact HPI Politicians often can survive a for county recorder or assessor. And, Howey Politics Indiana narrow loss, but an embarrassment is frankly, they don’t really care. 6255 Evanston Ave. fatal. A county recorder is a keeper Indianapolis, IN 46220 That wasn’t the only race in of deeds, not a policy maker. An www.howeypolitics.com Lake County that had politicos talking assessor evaluates property using after the results were tabulated. state-mandated guidelines. Indiana [email protected] County Recorder Michelle doesn’t need to be electing recorders 'Howey’s cell: 317.506.0883 Fajman lost to political unknown Mike or assessors. When you think about it, 'Washington: 703.248.0909 Brown by just under 700 votes. The we also shouldn’t be electing survey- 'Business Office: 317.627.6746 Lake County clerk is Mike Brown, who ors, treasurers, coroners or auditors. is a very popular guy. But no one That thinking is in line with knew the Mike Brown who defeated the Kernan/Shepard recommendations © 2012, Howey Politics Indiana. Fajman, although I’m sure many on how to improve local government. All rights reserved. Photocopy- people voted for the Mike Brown they Here are a couple of examples ing, Internet forwarding, fax- thought they knew instead of the one as to why Kernan and Shepard – and ing or reproducing in any form, running for recorder. Brown, the clerk, Gov. Mitch Daniels – are right. whole or part, is a violation of by the way, is black. The one who is Perhaps the Legislature should headed to become county recorder is take notice. v federal law without permission white. from the publisher. v Brown didn’t campaign much, Rich James is the former editorial didn’t seek endorsements and spent page editor and columnist for the little more than chump change. Yet Post-Tribune in Merrillville. he won with just 29 percent of the HOWEY Politics Indiana Page 3 Weekly Briefing on Indiana Politics Thursday, May 17, 2012 took off. That became the “walk away” interview. Brooks, from page 1 The residency issue had virtually no impact in 2010 when Sen. Dan Coats had moved back to the state, but it lished polling information in the May 4 edition of HPI. But it was devastating to Sen. Dick Lugar and McIntosh. What confirmed what Brooks’ internal polling showed: there was changed? Possibly it was the 10% congressional approval a significant pool of undecided voters. rating Howey/DePauw found in its March 26-27 survey. It On Election Day, many Republicans crossed polling fit into a carpetbagger “out of touch” narrative their oppo- place parking lots undecided and Brooks picked up most of nents used to devastating effect. Both McIntosh and Lugar them. saw leads dissipate in the final What hap- weeks of the campaign. pened in the final two Brooks also launched with- to three weeks? ering direct mail at McIntosh. Brooks be- Brooks said the campaign dis- lieves her “town hall” covered that most voters didn’t strategy paid off. She know McIntosh lived in Arling- conducted 80 of meet ton, Va., voted in Indiana, and and greets across the was a Washington lobbyist. They district, with anywhere also conjured up an element from 10 to 40 people from the 2000 O’Bannon-Kernan at each one. “It was playbook, attacking McIntosh’s our version of door- attendance level while he was to-door,” she said. a congressman. Brooks mailers That exposure had assailed McIntosh for lobby- a cumulative effect. ing for a “client that received The campaign made billions of dollars from the Wall 68,000 calls from its Street bailout.” The flyer read, phone bank. But it “DC insider David McIntosh sold wouldn’t have been his values to the highest bidder.” enough without the It forced McIntosh to go residency issue. on the offensive with rebukes to Was that the Brooks and third-place finisher silver bullet? John McGoff. Devin Anderson, “It cer- campaign chairman for McIn- tainly was,” Brooks tosh, told HPI, “We’ve been said. “The Anderson disappointed that John and Herald-Bulletin did a Susan have chosen to not focus pretty direct and pow- on fixing Washington but rather erful editorial about on politics of personal destruc- David and (Madison tion. Both know their views are County) Prosecutor not conservative and in step Rodney Cummings. with a majority of this district. We showed that to A Brooks campaign mailer (top) that exploited the residency issue They feel their only choice is our supporters.” Cum- of David McIntosh. Below, Brooks with a board detailing each of the to personally attack the true mings had brushed off 80 meet and greets she conducted across the district. (HPI Photo by conservative.” the residency attacks Brian A. Howey) Then there was Indianapo- as “political.” lis Star columnist Matt Tully’s Then came the Kokomo Perspective news reports excoriating tome on April 28. “Seeking to score a cheap and editorials on May 1 where Howard County Republican political point as he seeks the 5th District nomination, Chairman Craig Dunn called on Secretary of State Connie McIntosh took callous aim at the Women’s Fund of Cen- Lawson to make a ruling on McIntosh’s residency.