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Your Complimentary Cheat Sheet for August 26, 2017
1. The Cheat Sheet, Vol. 6, Issue 30 – August 2017
If you’re not a member of the Antelope Club, you should be. It’s the place where
Democrats, Republicans and Libertarians can all hang out, have a great time and
drink in peace and harmony. 615 N Delaware Street, Indianapolis• FREE PARKING•
Today's Senate Saga
Things continue to get more interesting the
U.S. Senate race, particularly with the GOP
Primary.
You might have seen the most recent
announcement of the new leadership team
for Luke Messer. The campaign will be now
be co-chaired by Jim Kittle, Greg Pence,
and Jennifer Hallowell. Chasen
Bullock, who worked for Senator Rand
Paul, is now the campaign manager. And
Doug Rose is the new campaign finance
Chairman. There are two "conspiratorial"
theories out there behind the
announcement. One is as Pence gets ready
for a likely Congressional run the team
needs to make changes now, so they don’t
get behind the ball later. The other theory
is that Messer has not been too thrilled with
the way things have been going and needed
a shake up. I’m sure TCS will know for sure
about 15 minutes after this goes out because
we will get a phone call.
And before we forget, apparently the night
before the Messer Senate announcement at
the annual Family BBQ, there was another
barbeque for Messer; there were two
differences, however. It was private, and
the Vice-President of the United States,
Mike Pence, was there.
2. The Cheat Sheet, Vol. 6, Issue 30 – August 2017
If you’re not a member of the Antelope Club, you should be. It’s the place where
Democrats, Republicans and Libertarians can all hang out, have a great time and
drink in peace and harmony. 615 N Delaware Street, Indianapolis• FREE PARKING•
We Interrupt This Cheat Sheet…
The dismal last week of Department of
And Now Back to Your Cheat
Sheet…
Meanwhile, the political establishment, TCS
hears, is taking a little bit of glee concerning
the recent story about Todd Rokita
holding a high-priced political fundraiser in
San Francisco while running on a campaign
against the “elites.” And when you add this
story to the one that Rokita can a bit
“challenging”, to say the least, if you are his
driver, the school of thought is that this will
be used against him in the campaign in the
form of ads that try to convey a message
that Rokita says he’s running against the
elites, but acts just like them. You know this
is coming.
And before we forget, word on the street is
that the early back and forth between Rokita
and Messer caught the attention of Senate
Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.
We're told he was worried the internal
fighting would only make things easier for
Joe Donnelly in 2018, so he sent the
Senate Republican Campaign Committee
into Indiana to possibly look for another
candidate and the one they focused on was
State Representative and businessman
Mike Braun.
TCS also hears Indiana Attorney General
Curtis Hill hasn't totally ruled out a
possible run. Although he's been spending
a lot of time helping the 10-Point
Coalition, rumor has it Hill has hired Kyle
Robertson to do some political work for
him. Once again, fueling speculation that he
is keeping a toe in the water.
Why are these folks smiling? They just got
their Cheat Sheet! Advertise with us!!!
3. The Cheat Sheet, Vol. 6, Issue 30 – August 2017
If you’re not a member of the Antelope Club, you should be. It’s the place where
Democrats, Republicans and Libertarians can all hang out, have a great time and
drink in peace and harmony. 615 N Delaware Street, Indianapolis• FREE PARKING•
Life in the 4th
Don’t be shocked to see an announcement
soon from outgoing DWD Commissioner
Steve Braun that he is running for
Congress in the 4th CD. As we were the first
report in our LNG capacity, Braun
submitted his resignation to the Governor
this past week; which made it pretty clear
he’s getting ready to do something else.
Now, this sets up an interesting dynamic
since the only two announced candidates
are Braun and Diego Morales. In part
because while Braun lives in Boone County
on the 5th CD side of the line, his family has
owned land on the 4th CD side of the line
for generations. Also, there have been
questions as to whether Diego is from the
4th CD. We spoke with him, and he told he
and his wife owned a place in
Plainfield. We also think the money race
between the two will be interesting to
watch. Steve, like his brother Mike, can
self-finance, however, Morales is expected
to announce a major list of supporters who
should be able to raise quite a bit of cash.
And keep Morgan County Commissioner
Ryan Goodwin on your radar screen. He’s
pretty sharp and well-regarded in the 4th
and is also a big supporter of incumbent
Todd Rokita.
And another name that’s popped up on our
radar screen is Motor Speedway President
Doug Boles.
4. The Cheat Sheet, Vol. 6, Issue 30 – August 2017
If you’re not a member of the Antelope Club, you should be. It’s the place where
Democrats, Republicans and Libertarians can all hang out, have a great time and
drink in peace and harmony. 615 N Delaware Street, Indianapolis• FREE PARKING•
A Few Other Items of Note
Rumor has it the Chief Information Officer
over at the Indiana Bureau of Motor
Vehicles is “no longer” with the
agency. TCS is trying to figure out if it was
voluntary or involuntary. One thing we
know for sure, it wasn’t pretty and may even
get uglier down the road.
It looks like slating will stick around in
Marion County for a while. Marion County
GOP chair Jim Merritt apparently let the
township chairman decided if they wanted
to keep slating and they agreed
unanimously. However, they also agreed the
township chairs would stay out of slating
races and just be more facilitators of the
process rather than get involved with
candidates.
Meanwhile, on the Democratic side, things
are about to look a lot more like Game of
Thrones. Word is Democratic party Chair
Kate Sweeny Bell wants to stay out of the
Sheriff’s race between Kerry Forestal and
Bill Benjamin and let them duke it out for
their party’s support. However, she’s
apparently getting pressure to appoint PCs
in vacant slots to benefit Forestal; it’s
unclear if any of that pressure is coming
from Mayor Joe Hogsett who supports
Forestal.
5. The Cheat Sheet, Vol. 6, Issue 30 – August 2017
If you’re not a member of the Antelope Club, you should be. It’s the place where
Democrats, Republicans and Libertarians can all hang out, have a great time and
drink in peace and harmony. 615 N Delaware Street, Indianapolis• FREE PARKING•
And speaking of "slating," a lawsuit may be
filed against the Democrats arguing their
system is discriminatory because of the fee a
candidate has to pay to be considered. The
theory is because a candidate would have to
pay a slating fee (which is usually 10% of the
salary of the office they are vying for) it has
a disproportionate impact on minority
candidates since they may not have the
resources of their white counterparts. We
don’t make this stuff up, we just report it.
A lot of eyes are starting to focus on State
Senator Mike Delph and whether he will
run for re-election in Senate District 29.
Republican State Rep. Dave Frizzell (HD
93) may be getting a primary challenge.
Former Democratic State Senator Jim
Arnold of LaPorte is looking at running
against 2nd District Congresswoman
Jackie Walorski.
The Hendricks Power Cooperative is
reportedly looking at moving its
headquarters from Avon to Zionsville. Yes,
that sounds odd to us too. But then again,
this is the same place where the former CEO
got 33 months in prison for passing off
nearly $600,000 in personal expenses as
business purchases.
There’s scuttlebutt that Facebook might be
looking at setting up a major operation here
in Indiana; the site is possibly in the
Noblesville area.
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
Abdul@indypolitics.org. We promise to
take all the credit and all of the blame.