Our Top 10 for 2014

The Cheat Sheet, Vol 3, Issue 59 – 29 Dec 2014

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Top 10 of 2014!!!

With 2014 winding down and 2015

nearly here, we figured it was time for

our annual Top 10 list of state and

local stories. We chose stories based

on a couple criteria, web traffic

generated, short and long-term

impact on either Indianapolis or

Indiana and of course what we label

as the “OMG/WTF” factor. So here

they are, in reverse order.

10. Pence Chief of Staff Bill Smith

Resigns.

Everyone thought we were crazy when we told them in January Governor

Mike Pence’s Chief of Staff Bill Smith was not long for this political world, at least they did until it happened this

past Spring. Smith left and was replaced in May by former State

lawmaker and Insurance Commissioner Jim Atterholt. It was no big secret that Smith was not going

to stay on the job through the first term and Pence needed someone he

could not only trust, but could also crack the whip and build relationships with lawmakers that had been

somewhat strained at times behind the scenes.




9. Indianapolis murder rate.

We continued to see a high murder rate in Indy this year, despite efforts

to not only put more police on the street, but also take a comprehensive approach to crime, such as early

childhood education and the “Your Life Matters” campaign. We’re north of

130 murders. Most of the victims and suspects were black and most had prior felonies. It seems the only

people who aren’t getting the anti-crime message are the criminals. But

there is still part of us that thinks when these guys take each other out, it’s probably the first and only public

service they’ve ever done.

8. The State Treasurer’s race.

We knew that former State Treasurer

Richard Mourdock was term limited and that let up the three-way primary between Marion Mayor Wayne

Seybold, tea Party favorite Don Bates, Jr. and Kelly Mitchell who worked in

the office. As Seybold, Bates and their surrogates beat the heck out of each other for months, Mitchell ran an

inside-straight up the middle campaign to win her party’s

nomination for State Treasurer. Then throw in the fact that Mourdock saw a good chunk of his government pension

getting ready to go up in smoke he resigned from office this summer.

(We still joke the interest was more important than the principle.)

******* Join us January 5 at the Antelope

Club for “Twas the Night Before

Session” . We’ll be talking with State Senator Jim Merritt and State

Rep. Tom Dermody on the upcoming session. It’s at 6 p.m.

and the event is free.

*******




7. Tony Bennett back in the news.

Although he’s been out of Indiana

politics for nearly two years, former

Superintendent of Public Instruction

Tony Bennett kept getting dragged

back into the news. And usually it

happened right before a controversial

State Board of Education meeting.

(Imagine that) This time it was over

whether Bennett broke the ethics

rules by doing some political work on

state time. Statewide officers can do

a de minimus amount of political

activity on government time if they

develop a written policy. Bennett

didn’t and paid a fine, however an

investigator’s report (which was made

public right before another State

Board of Education meeting) said

there were numerous findings that the

law might have been broken which

were forwarded to the U.S. Attorney

and Marion County Prosecutor’s

offices. Which then led to the back

and forth of who got what and when

did or didn’t they get the documents.




6. Turner exits Statehouse.

For a while we thought Indiana was

starting to turn into Illinois. And

while former House leader Eric Turner

did not break the ethics rules with

respect to advocating against a bill

that would have put a moratorium on

new nursing homes construction here

in Indiana (his family was in the

nursing home business and the

moratorium would have cost them

millions of dollars) a lot of people

think he bent the rules so much that

when they were bent back into shape

they sure as heck did not look like the

rules anymore. That led to Turner

being stripped of his house position as

Pro Tempore, new ethics rules being

proposed and the likelihood of a new

moratorium bill being introduced next

session and it passes by an

overwhelming margin.

******

Join us January 5 at the Antelope

Club for “Twas the Night Before Session” . We’ll be talking with State Senator Jim Merritt and State Rep. Tom Dermody on the upcoming session. It’s at 6 p.m. and the event is free.

5. Glenda Ritz vs. SBOE.

Some of the greatest fights in history

have been Muhammad Ali vs. Joe

Fraizer, King Kong vs. Godzilla and

Superintendent of Public Instruction

Glenda Ritz vs. the State Board of

Education. When the Internet stream

of State Board of Education meetings

became one of the most watched

events in state government you knew

something was up. The Governor

extended an olive branch by

eliminating CECI, but also calling the

SBOE to appoint its own chair. We

also know a bill is being introduced to

make the position of SPI appointed in

2020. The fun never stops. Let the

battle continue.




4. ISIS conflict hits Indiana.

When Peter Abdul-Rahman Kassig was

executed by ISIS that clearly proves

that world events can have a direct

impact here in Indiana. Kassig

devoted his life to helping improve the

lives of others and his death was

tragic. And what made the matter

even sadder was an Indiana blogger

who pushed a conspiracy theory that

Kassig was not executed and the

whole thing was staged by the CIA.

Ugh!!!

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advertise with us !!!

E-mail TCS for details!

3. “Super-Size” My Majority

Please.

Going into the 2014 election

Republicans had polling which showed

them either growing their House

majority by two seats or it shrinking

by four. At best they thought they

would break even. Who would have

thought that would have increased

their majorities in the House and

Senate? Actually, the GOP over-

performed on the House side. We did

a little math and found out although

the GOP got 63% of the total votes

case in House races, they got 71

seats.

And here are some other fun facts;

the GOP only won three seats by less

than double digits. The average GOP

victory was by 27 points. State Rep.

Jim Baird (HD-44) was the highest

vote getter, with 14,563 votes, Baird

did run unopposed however. The

highest vote getter with a challenger

was Rhonda Rhodes (HD-70). She got

11,462 votes to challenger Heidi

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Sellers who got 8,022 votes. Greg

Porter was the top vote getter on the

Democratic side with nearly 12,000

votes.

And we can’t go without mentioning

the history that was made at the top

of the ticket with Connie Lawson,

Suzanne Crouch and Kelly Mitchell. It

was the first time a major political

party had nominated women for all

three statewide offices at the top of

the ticket and all three won. In fact, if

you count Glenda Ritz and the Lt.

Governor Sue Ellspermann, five of the

seven statewide offices are all held by

women.


Club for “Twas the Night Before Session” . We’ll be talking with

State Senator Jim Merritt and State Rep. Tom Dermody on the

upcoming session. It’s at 6 p.m. and the event is free.

*******




2. Ballard Says “No” to Third Term.

Let us start this one off by saying Joe

Hogsett (1-3) is the luckiest man in

Indianapolis. When incumbent Mayor

Greg Ballard (2-0) announced he

wasn’t running for a third-term, he

threw the political class in this town

on its ear. (We were going to use

another three-letter word.)

In all our conversations with the

Mayor in 2014 regarding running for

re-election, he always said he would

do what was best for his family and

the city, but I could tell his heart

wasn’t fully in it. We also know he got

a lot of pressure to run for a third

term and he got a lot of calls from

elected officials and industry leaders.

The Hogsett folks knew they were in

for a tough fight if Ballard had run

again and the polling was in the

incumbent’s favor. With no Ballard in

the race and the GOP still having a

difficult time finding a candidate

(although we are told there is a

possible contender out there who just

needs convincing) things look good for

the former U.S. Attorney. Also, if

Democrats get the Mayor’s office back

it gives them a base to fundraise and

be competitive in 2016.

The Democrats biggest worry right

now is that the Rev. Charles Harrison

will run on the Libertarian ticket. We

hear they think they can keep him off

the ballot if he runs as an independent

by challenging his signatures, but if

Harrison runs as a Libertarian he

automatically has ballot access and he

has a lot more name ID than people

think. Apparently thing have gotten

to the point where some party leaders

are going through Harrison’s Facebook

page and “reaching out” to anyone

whose name they recognize to remind

them where there “loyalties” should

be.

*******

Join us January 5 at the Antelope Club for “Twas the Night Before

Session” . We’ll be talking with State Senator Jim Merritt and State

Rep. Tom Dermody on the upcoming session. It’s at 6 p.m.

and the event is free.

*******




1. HJR-3 Goes Down in

Flames.

Yes, we did use some double entendre

there. Whether it was the votes to

amend HJR-3 to remove the second

sentence or the court rulings that held

Indiana’s ban on same-sex marriage

had no rational basis whatsoever, this

was the big story of the year. This

was an issue that saw Republicans,

Democrats, Libertarians and

Independents come together and

engage in a campaign the likes of

which had never been seen in this

state before.

It also didn’t help the “pro-family”

groups allowed themselves to get

caught off guard and not get

organized until the very last minute.

They were also livid at Governor Mike

Pence that he did not come out

stronger for HJR-3.

It was fascinating to watch how this

issue has evolved over the past 10

years when it was labeled as “the

most important issue of our time”.

There was GOP polling that showed

the amendment failed with the second

sentence included and a lot people

were just tired of the issue and

attitudes had just changed over time.

Now the fight has shifted to a

“religious freedom” argument. By the

way, this won’t be as cut and dry as a

lot of its supporters would like for it to

be, especially when someone says

they don’t have to serve black people

because it’s against their religious

beliefs. You know that’s coming.




Honorable Mentions

Continuing speculation over

whether Mike Pence will run for

President.

Loretta Rush named Chief

Justice of Indiana Supreme

Court.

Mitch Harper getting in the race

for Ft. Wayne Mayor and Tom

Henry may not run for a third

term.

Inspector General clears former

INDOT Chief of Staff Troy

Woodruff of wrongdoing in I-69

land deal.

Reformers win IPS School Board

Election.

Local governments flex their

muscle on elimination of

Business Personal Property Tax

repeal.

Incumbents Rebecca Kubacki,

Kathy Heuer and John

Waterman get taken out in May

primary.

Mike Delph disciplined over

tweets regarding HJR-3 but

wins re-election over JD Ford.

Mass Transit passes out of

Indiana General Assembly.

Referendum TBA.

Governor and lawmakers

withdraw Indiana from Common

Core.

Deb Minnott removed as head

of FSSA.


Club for “Twas the Night Before Session”. We’ll be talking with

State Senator Jim Merritt and State Rep. Tom Dermody on the

upcoming session. It’s at 6 p.m. and the event is free.

*******

The Usual Disclaimer Stuff:

The Cheat Sheet is a publication of

IndyPolitics.Org. This is a compilation

of pure gossip, rumor and blatant

innuendo. We assume no liability if it

is wrong, we only take credit for it

when it’s right!

If you’ve got something you want to

share, (good, bad or ugly) send it to

[email protected]. We promise

to take all the credit.

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Our Top 10 for 2014

News & Politics

Transcript of Our Top 10 for 2014