Free Republic

Richard Mourdock, who is Sen. Richard Lugar’s (R-Ind.) Tea Party-backed GOP primary foe, is calling on the incumbent to renounce his affiliation with two groups that support legislation to cap greenhouse gas emissions. Mourdock, the state treasurer, wants Lugar to resign from his advisory positions with the Alliance to Save Energy and the Brookings Institution’s Energy Security Initiative. __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ The Alliance to Save Energy, which advocates for energy efficiency, backed legislation the House approved in 2009 that included a cap-and-trade system and several green energy and efficiency provisions. The group also supported Senate efforts to pass climate legislation that collapsed...

Capitol Hill sources tell Howey Politics Indiana that Club for Growth is planning to spend $ 1.8 million on behalf of Richard Mourdock (R) in his GOP primary challenge to Sen. Dick Lugar (R-IN).

Sen. Dick Lugar (R-Ind.) is barely leading his primary opponent, state Treasurer Richard Mourdock, less than two months before the primary, according to a Democratic poll released today. The numbers showed the six-term Senator in rough shape but still ahead of Mourdock, 45 percent to 39 percent. Lugar faces the toughest re-election campaign of his career in the May 8 primary. Since the start of this cycle, Republicans viewed him as vulnerable in a primary, but polling of his race has been scarce in part because Indiana law restricts automated calls, including polling. Rep. Joe Donnelly (D) will run against...

The National Rifle Association is supporting tea-party favorite Richard Mourdock in his GOP primary race against veteran U.S. Sen. Richard Lugar. National NRA lobbyist Chris Cox is scheduled Wednesday to announce his group's support for Mourdock, the Indiana state treasurer running against Lugar in the May primary. The Mourdock campaign confirmed the endorsement Tuesday. A handful of high-profile conservative groups have lined up behind Mourdock in his bid to oust Lugar. The anti-tax Club for Growth threw its support behind Mourdock last month. Lugar's supporters have opened a pair of Super PACs recently to raise unlimited funds to support his...

Indiana Rep. Dan Burton said former House Speaker Newt Gingrich is the only GOP presidential candidate who can go toe-to-toe with President Barack Obama and turn the country away from the president’s socialist path. Burton, who made the comments while endorsing Gingrich at the speaker’s Latin American foreign policy speech at Florida International University in Miami-Dade County, told the audience that “we cannot stand four more years of president Obama.” “He is a socialist,” Burton said. “He is taking this country down the socialist path and we have to change it or America will be changed forever, in the wrong...

Former Vice President Dan Quayle will endorse Mitt Romney for president tomorrow at a campaign event in Arizona. The endorsement will take place in Paradise Valley, Arizona, which is located within the congressional district of Ben Quayle, the former Vice President's son, who was elected to the House in 2010 and has yet to make an endorsement in the presidential race....

Indiana Treasurer Richard Mourdock picked up an endorsement from a presidential candidate in his primary challenge to Sen. Dick Lugar (R-Ind.) this week. Former Godfather’s Pizza CEO Herman Cain announced he would support Mourdock’s primary bid to unseat Lugar during a Monday visit to Indianapolis, the Associated Press reported. Cain reportedly met with Mourdock after addressing Indiana Republicans on the invitation of the state party. Indiana Republican Party Chairman Eric Holcomb invited all the GOP presidential candidates to speak to the Republican faithful in the state, but Cain was the first to schedule a visit. Cain placed fifth in Iowa's...

A poll unveiled this week from American Research Group shows that three Republican presidential candidates -- U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota, U.S. Rep. Ron Paul of Texas and former Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska -- are gaining serious momentum in Iowa, site of the first presidential caucus. Bachmann, who declared her candidacy in June and has been surging in polls at both the national and state levels, topped the poll with 21 percent. Former Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts placed second with 18 percent. Paul, who was the Libertarian candidate in 1988 and ran for the Republican nomination in...

From backing the DREAM Act to supporting President Obama's crippling START Treaty with Russia, Dick Lugar has had a checkered past with Conservative thought and policy. Maybe if he had spent less time golfing with the President he would have had the time to look through these disastrous bills. There is now hope. In January, RINO Hunters in Indiana gathered to decide on someone to run against Lugar, and Indiana State Treasurer Richard Mourdock now is challenging Dick Lugar in the 2012 Senate run. Richard Mourdock's campaign site has a wonderful YouTube video with damning comments falling from the lips...

Please Freep this Poll: Do you support the Right to Work Law? No Yes Undecided The Indiana Democrats followed the Wisconsin Democrats. Help us send a message.

He broke the news to supporters in a letter. Pence ended months of public speculation with a letter to supporters that he shared with the Indianapolis Star. In the choice between seeking national office and serving Indiana in some capacity, we choose Indiana,” the six-term House member wrote. I’ve worked with Rep. Pence a couple of times. He is exactly as he seems: genuine, humble, fair, smart, strongly patriotic and deeply committed to conservatism. He’ll make a great governor, and hopefully before long, a great president.

Indiana State Treasurer Richard Mourdock, who trounced Democratic opponent Pete Buttigieg just a week ago, is now being talked about as a formidable opponent in May 2012. His possible opponent that year? None other than the vaunted U.S. Sen. Dick Lugar. Brian Howey of Howey Politics Indiana, whose column appears in The Times and at nwi.com on Sundays, cited "multiple informed and reliable Republican sources" in reporting this afternoon that Mourdock has set his sights on Lugar. Here's a snippet from Howey's post: "I've had a lot of Republicans telling me that I ought to look at a lot of...

In a speech Tuesday night at a pro-life event in Houston, former presidential candidate Sarah Palin said abortion is an "essential" issues for the pro-life movement in the 2010 elections. Palin said it is important to take advantage of the opportunity the elections present to mitigate President Barack Obama's pro-abortion agenda. Palin said Obama has been responsible for "the biggest advance of the abortion industry in America" thanks to the ObamaCare bill that includes abortion funding, she said, according to CNN. She added Obama is "the most pro-abortion president to ever occupy the White House," "That's why it's essential that...

Indiana Rep. Jackie Walorski, R-Jimtown, picked up another big-name Republican endorsement Wednesday in her congressional campaign against incumbent U.S. Rep. Joe Donnelly, D-Granger. Former Alaska governor, 2008 vice presidential candidate and current Fox News Channel pundit Sarah Palin endorsed Walorski on her Facebook page just before noon. Palin endorsed six other conservative female political candidates Wednesday as she recognized the 90th anniversary of the 19th Amendment, which granted American women the right to vote. Palin said Walorski "knows the people, she knows the issues that matter to them, and most importantly, she knows what she stands for — limited government,...

Indiana state Rep. Randy Borror (R), an announced candidate to replace soon-to-resign Rep. Mark Souder (R), says that the top issues in northeastern Indiana dovetail with his background and experience. Borror told CQ Politics Wednesday that he's well-positioned to provide needed leadership for the Fort Wayne-based 3rd district on jobs, economic development and deficit reduction as the author of legislation creating the Indiana Economic Development Corporation and as a member of the Ways and Means and Budget Committees. "I think I have a pretty good understanding of finance," Borror said, adding later that "it's pretty well-known that when it comes...

In Indiana's Republican primary for U.S. Senate, conservative insurgents got more votes than the GOP establishment. There was only one small problem: the party establishment had just one candidate in the race while the conservatives split their votes between four.

Attorney Todd Young and Dr. Larry Bucshon will be the GOP nominees in a pair of top pickup opportunities in southern Indiana. Young defeated a field that included former Rep. Mike Sodrel (R-Ind.) to win the nod to face Rep. Baron Hill (D-Ind.), while Bucshon survived a scare from a Tea Party candidate an will be the party’s candidate in Rep. Brad Ellsworth’s (R-Ind.) district. Buschon led 33-29 with 94 percent of precincts, while Young led activist Travis Hankins 34-32 with 99 percent of precincts reporting. Sodrel was third, with 31 percent. In a cycle that features many former members...

Here's the official site for returns...anyone have a better one?

Former Rep. John Hostettler (R-Ind.) is running for the Senate much like he ran for the House: heavy on the social-issue conservatism and light -- very light -- on campaign funds. Hostettler raised just $37,000 in the first quarter of 2010, according a filing in the Senate public records office, and began April with just $9,700. His first-quarter receipts amounted to less than a tenth of what front-running Republican Dan Coats raised and 1/17th of what presumptive Democratic nominee Brad Ellsworth raised. Unlike the way he handled his House campaigns, Hostettler is now accepting contributions from political action committees. But...

A notable buzz surrounded youthful Indiana State Sen. Marlin Stutzman as he was escorted around this week’s Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) by activist Donna Weisner. “Back in Indiana, they say he’s our Scott Brown,” she said proudly. Stutzman supporters elatedly boasted news of a Rasmussen poll that gives Stutzman a ten-point lead over the likely Democrat nominee for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Evan Bayh. All this is a stunning development for the young farmer and businessman who only four years ago was the youngest member of the Indiana legislature. In Washington power circles former Sen. Dan...