If the Republican Presidential candidates debates are any indication, 2012 should be an exciting year on the political trail.
It will all culminate with the Presidential election in November.
The primary should be interesting, too, as State Treasurer Richard Murdock, who calls himself the Tea Party supported Republican Senatorial candidate, attempts to unseat Sen. Richard Lugar who will be going for his seventh term.
Jackie is giving it another run for a U.S. Congressional seat in 2012, but this time she’s running in a reconfigured district that favors a Republican candidate.
Walorski narrowly lost to Representative Joe Donnelly in the 2010 election, but it won’t be a rematch in 2012 as Donnelly has announced that he running for the U.S. Senate.
Second District Representative, Joe Donnelly, made it official yesterday. In a video announcement, Donnelly said he wanted to take the fight for American jobs to the U.S. Senate.
The Democrat narrowly defeated challenger Jackie Walorski in the 2010 general election, but since then the District has become much more Republican with redistricting.
The number four story of 2010 is the Republican resurgence in Starke County.
Long a bastion of Democrat government, the Republicans rode the wave of national sentiment to local success. The major impact will be felt on the Starke County Council where the Republicans won three of four seats up for election. Tony Radkiewicz defeated longtime council member Chuck Estok, Mitchell Semans defeated Becky Ferch in a seat that had been held by Dan Awald, and Dave Pearman defeated E.J. Rogers in the seat held by Bill Dulin.
Judge Kim Hall beat back a challenge by former Judge David Matsey by a wide margin.
The state races went Republican, as did the U.S. Senate Race that saw Dan Coats return to the senate by a wide margin. Democrat Representative Joe Donnelly was returned to his seat with a narrow victory over Jackie Walorski, and Democrat Nancy Dembowski got by Frances Ellert for the 17th District House seat. Both candidates, though, blamed the votes that went to the Libertarian candidates for their defeats.
The Republicans gave notice in Starke County that the GOP Party is back, and to be reckoned with in the future.
