July 23, 2014 at 2:10 p.m.
Daniels easily re-elected (11/05/2008)
By From AP and Staff Reports-
Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels has put lawmakers and Indiana on notice by pledging to keep up his aggressive push for change during his second term.
"Never again will somebody be able to write that this is a change-averse state, this is a standstill state, this is a follower state because Indiana has announced in the last four years and emphatically tonight that not only do we accept change we are prepared to lead change," Daniels told hundreds of supporters at Conseco Fieldhouse following his re-election Tuesday.
"Let the rest of America follow us!"
Daniels is still the man for most Jay County voters.
He defeated Democratic challenger Jill Long Thompson in Jay County 4,761-3,403, with more than 57 percent of the vote.
Long Thompson, who represented the region in Congress for a period in the 1980s, trailed across the county. She won just three of 21 precincts, and one of those victories was by just 4 votes.
Daniels, meanwhile, routinely received more than 60 percent of the vote in local precincts. In strongly Republican Wabash Township, he received more than 72 percent of the votes cast.
"This is a governor that has been fiscally responsible. With him coming back we need to continue down that path because the less money the state of Indiana needs, the more taxpayers can keep in their pocket. We want to continue on that path of fiscal responsibility," State Rep. Bill Davis said of Daniels' re-election.
Rep. Mike Pence strolled to re-election, receiving as much as 75 percent of the vote in some Jay County precincts. Unofficial totals showed Pence with 5,290, while Democratic challenger Barry Welsh received just 2,630 votes in his second attempt to unseat the conservative Republican.
In other statewide races, Jay voters favored Democrat Linda Pence over Republican Greg Zoeller for attorney general 4,294-3,743, Republican Tony Bennett over Democrat Richard D. Wood for superintendent of public instruction 4,186-3,529.
Daniels went into Wednesday morning not knowing which party would control the Indiana House.
House Democrats went into the election with a 51-49 advantage, but it was possible the chamber could be tied 50-50, and if so, Republicans would wield the gavel under a tie-breaking law tied to which party wins the governor's office. That would make it easier for Daniels to get what he wants, since Republicans maintained their lock on the Senate.
The parties in the House traded three seats each, but the outcome of one race remained uncertain.
Republican Kelly Gaskill led Rep. Scott Reske, D-Pendleton, by 34 votes in District 37 with nearly 12,000 absentee votes left to be counted in Madison County. The counting was to resume Wednesday morning, and if Gaskill holds on, the chamber would be tied and Republicans would control the chamber.
The last time the House was tied was in 1997 and 1998, but the tie-breaker then gave Democrats control.
With 99 percent of Indiana precincts reporting, Daniels won 58 percent of the vote, according to unofficial returns tabulated by The Associated Press.
More than 11,000 ballots were left uncounted in Madison County Tuesday night.
County Clerk Ludy Watkins has said some ballots weren't coded correctly to be read by the county's vote counting machine. Officials hoped to have them counted by mid-day today.
Robert Dion, a political science professor at the University of Evansville, said he had no doubt Daniels would press forward with more change. Daniels has pledged to pursue further expansion of full-day kindergarten, take the next step toward amending caps on property tax bills into the state constitution, and starting a new college scholarship program.
"He is a man on the move, he is a big thinker," Dion said. "He is in the second half of his time as governor and now the clock is running out, so he will feel the urgency of making his mark on the state."
Long Thompson conceded the race shortly after 9 p.m. A victory would have made her the first woman elected governor in Indiana history.
"This didn't turn out as we had hoped, but we put a big crack in that glass ceiling," she told supporters at the downtown Marriott in Indianapolis. "And it's only a matter of time before that thing shatters here in Indiana."
Daniels, a former policy adviser to President Reagan and President George Bush, had a huge fundraising advantage throughout the campaign and outspent his Democratic rival by at least $10 million.
Democrats had hoped to capitalize on the momentum of Barack Obama's presidential campaign and voter unhappiness over changes in Daniels' first term, which included decisions to observe daylight saving time statewide and lease the Indiana Toll Road to a foreign venture.
Many of those changes came during his first two years in office, with help from a House then controlled by Republicans.
Senate Republicans on Tuesday maintained the 33-17 advantage they went into Election Day with. They have controlled the chamber since late 1978.
Daniels said recently that his first priority in a second term is keeping the balanced budget, especially given the tanking economy.
He has suggested that will be easier to accomplish with a GOP-controlled House, calling Democratic House Speaker Patrick Bauer of South Bend "an expensive date."
Long Thompson had blamed Daniels for thousands of jobs Indiana has lost this year and had pledged to overhaul the state's tax structure and implement a new economic development program to boost the economy.
She also had promised to restore bargaining rights for state employees, which Daniels rescinded on his first day in office, and end what she called Daniels' "privatization madness" that she said had resulted in bad financial deals and worse services.
[[In-content Ad]]In Jay County, unofficial totals, with a handful of provisional ballots yet to be tallied, showed McCain defeating Sen. Barack Obama in the Jay County vote 4,400-3,746.
McCain received 52.88 percent of the vote to Obama's 45.02 percent, but the Illinois senator won 8 of the county's 21 precincts, running strongly in Portland, Dunkirk, and Redkey, while polling well behind McCain in rural precincts.
Libertarian Bob Barr received 157 votes, and there were 17 write-ins.
Obama's Jay County vote totals were the highest for a Democratic presidential candidate in more than 30 years.
He posted over 1,000 more votes than John Kerry in 2004, over 1,500 more than Al Gore in 2000, and about 1,500 more than Bill Clinton in 1992 and 1996.
McCain ran strongly throughout the county, with his best showing in Wabash Township where he received more than 75 percent of the vote.
Obama's best showing was in Dunkirk 3, where he received more than 60 percent of the vote, but he edged narrow victories in some surprising places, including traditional GOP stronghold Wayne 1, where he posted a 14-vote margin.
Early and absentee ballots amounted to almost 25 percent of the votes cast in the county, and by a small margin those favored Obama. Absentee and early vote totals showed Obama with 1,043, McCain with 996, Barr with 24, and 8 write-ins.
The relatively narrow margin of victory for McCain in Jay County contrasted sharply with Adams and Wells counties, which gave the Arizona senator about 60 percent of the vote.
County Democratic chairman Tim Southworth was optimistic about Obama's chance for victory statewide because of the competitive nature of the Jay County contest.
"Never again will somebody be able to write that this is a change-averse state, this is a standstill state, this is a follower state because Indiana has announced in the last four years and emphatically tonight that not only do we accept change we are prepared to lead change," Daniels told hundreds of supporters at Conseco Fieldhouse following his re-election Tuesday.
"Let the rest of America follow us!"
Daniels is still the man for most Jay County voters.
He defeated Democratic challenger Jill Long Thompson in Jay County 4,761-3,403, with more than 57 percent of the vote.
Long Thompson, who represented the region in Congress for a period in the 1980s, trailed across the county. She won just three of 21 precincts, and one of those victories was by just 4 votes.
Daniels, meanwhile, routinely received more than 60 percent of the vote in local precincts. In strongly Republican Wabash Township, he received more than 72 percent of the votes cast.
"This is a governor that has been fiscally responsible. With him coming back we need to continue down that path because the less money the state of Indiana needs, the more taxpayers can keep in their pocket. We want to continue on that path of fiscal responsibility," State Rep. Bill Davis said of Daniels' re-election.
Rep. Mike Pence strolled to re-election, receiving as much as 75 percent of the vote in some Jay County precincts. Unofficial totals showed Pence with 5,290, while Democratic challenger Barry Welsh received just 2,630 votes in his second attempt to unseat the conservative Republican.
In other statewide races, Jay voters favored Democrat Linda Pence over Republican Greg Zoeller for attorney general 4,294-3,743, Republican Tony Bennett over Democrat Richard D. Wood for superintendent of public instruction 4,186-3,529.
Daniels went into Wednesday morning not knowing which party would control the Indiana House.
House Democrats went into the election with a 51-49 advantage, but it was possible the chamber could be tied 50-50, and if so, Republicans would wield the gavel under a tie-breaking law tied to which party wins the governor's office. That would make it easier for Daniels to get what he wants, since Republicans maintained their lock on the Senate.
The parties in the House traded three seats each, but the outcome of one race remained uncertain.
Republican Kelly Gaskill led Rep. Scott Reske, D-Pendleton, by 34 votes in District 37 with nearly 12,000 absentee votes left to be counted in Madison County. The counting was to resume Wednesday morning, and if Gaskill holds on, the chamber would be tied and Republicans would control the chamber.
The last time the House was tied was in 1997 and 1998, but the tie-breaker then gave Democrats control.
With 99 percent of Indiana precincts reporting, Daniels won 58 percent of the vote, according to unofficial returns tabulated by The Associated Press.
More than 11,000 ballots were left uncounted in Madison County Tuesday night.
County Clerk Ludy Watkins has said some ballots weren't coded correctly to be read by the county's vote counting machine. Officials hoped to have them counted by mid-day today.
Robert Dion, a political science professor at the University of Evansville, said he had no doubt Daniels would press forward with more change. Daniels has pledged to pursue further expansion of full-day kindergarten, take the next step toward amending caps on property tax bills into the state constitution, and starting a new college scholarship program.
"He is a man on the move, he is a big thinker," Dion said. "He is in the second half of his time as governor and now the clock is running out, so he will feel the urgency of making his mark on the state."
Long Thompson conceded the race shortly after 9 p.m. A victory would have made her the first woman elected governor in Indiana history.
"This didn't turn out as we had hoped, but we put a big crack in that glass ceiling," she told supporters at the downtown Marriott in Indianapolis. "And it's only a matter of time before that thing shatters here in Indiana."
Daniels, a former policy adviser to President Reagan and President George Bush, had a huge fundraising advantage throughout the campaign and outspent his Democratic rival by at least $10 million.
Democrats had hoped to capitalize on the momentum of Barack Obama's presidential campaign and voter unhappiness over changes in Daniels' first term, which included decisions to observe daylight saving time statewide and lease the Indiana Toll Road to a foreign venture.
Many of those changes came during his first two years in office, with help from a House then controlled by Republicans.
Senate Republicans on Tuesday maintained the 33-17 advantage they went into Election Day with. They have controlled the chamber since late 1978.
Daniels said recently that his first priority in a second term is keeping the balanced budget, especially given the tanking economy.
He has suggested that will be easier to accomplish with a GOP-controlled House, calling Democratic House Speaker Patrick Bauer of South Bend "an expensive date."
Long Thompson had blamed Daniels for thousands of jobs Indiana has lost this year and had pledged to overhaul the state's tax structure and implement a new economic development program to boost the economy.
She also had promised to restore bargaining rights for state employees, which Daniels rescinded on his first day in office, and end what she called Daniels' "privatization madness" that she said had resulted in bad financial deals and worse services.
[[In-content Ad]]In Jay County, unofficial totals, with a handful of provisional ballots yet to be tallied, showed McCain defeating Sen. Barack Obama in the Jay County vote 4,400-3,746.
McCain received 52.88 percent of the vote to Obama's 45.02 percent, but the Illinois senator won 8 of the county's 21 precincts, running strongly in Portland, Dunkirk, and Redkey, while polling well behind McCain in rural precincts.
Libertarian Bob Barr received 157 votes, and there were 17 write-ins.
Obama's Jay County vote totals were the highest for a Democratic presidential candidate in more than 30 years.
He posted over 1,000 more votes than John Kerry in 2004, over 1,500 more than Al Gore in 2000, and about 1,500 more than Bill Clinton in 1992 and 1996.
McCain ran strongly throughout the county, with his best showing in Wabash Township where he received more than 75 percent of the vote.
Obama's best showing was in Dunkirk 3, where he received more than 60 percent of the vote, but he edged narrow victories in some surprising places, including traditional GOP stronghold Wayne 1, where he posted a 14-vote margin.
Early and absentee ballots amounted to almost 25 percent of the votes cast in the county, and by a small margin those favored Obama. Absentee and early vote totals showed Obama with 1,043, McCain with 996, Barr with 24, and 8 write-ins.
The relatively narrow margin of victory for McCain in Jay County contrasted sharply with Adams and Wells counties, which gave the Arizona senator about 60 percent of the vote.
County Democratic chairman Tim Southworth was optimistic about Obama's chance for victory statewide because of the competitive nature of the Jay County contest.
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