Davis tops Liggett (11/3/04)

One of the most contentious — and easily the most expensive — election contests in local history wasn’t much of one.

Portland businessman Bill Davis, making his first run for political office, won by a surprisingly comfortable margin over longtime District 33 State Representative Ron Liggett of Redkey Tuesday.

In race seen by both major parties as critical for control of the Indiana House of Representatives, Davis, a Republican, won the vote in Jay County and the portions of Randolph and Delaware counties that are included in the district. Davis won 55 percent of the vote in District 33 (13,329) to Liggett’s 45 percent (10,920).

“We’re just elated,” Davis said as he gathered with Republicans Tuesday night at the Corner Cafe in Portland, while results began to favor his bid. “We said from the start this would be a grassroots effort. The people are ready for a change. This is an indication that people are willing to get behind a team that Mitch Daniels is going to lead.”

Daniels, who also defeated incumbent Democratic Gov. Joe Kernan by a surprisingly large margin, will have Republican majorities in both the Indiana Senate and House — the first time that’s happened since 1987.

State Republicans, who had a goal of claiming at least 54 of the 100 seats in the House, won at least 53, and were ahead in another district as of this morning.

Liggett, who won four precincts in Richland Township in Jay County but lost his home county by 962, conceded defeat as returns from Randolph County came in that added to his Jay County deficit.

Liggett, a contractor who was first elected in 1992, said Tuesday night that a negative campaign financed heavily by a state GOP committee was a major factor in his defeat.

“Folks say (negative ads) didn’t affect their vote. When (commercials) are blasted day after day, it was impossible to overcome. To win, we would have had to go negative ... The choice not to go negative was the right choice for me ... I can live with that,” Liggett said about 10 p.m. Tuesday night at Democratic headquarters in Portland, where the mood dampened after early optimism.

Davis denied that he had run a negative campaign.

“We talked about the issues and the issues that concerned the State of Indiana,” Davis said this morning. “That’s what we focused on.”

The race, which began with pledges from both sides to stay clean, didn’t remain that way.

Beginning several months ago the negative advertising — mostly on the air — began. During the final month of the campaign, a flood of campaign literature was mailed to voters in the district, and the airwaves were filled with charges and countercharges.

Between $500,000 and $1 million was raised by the Davis and Liggett campaigns, with thousands more spent by outside interest groups for advertising not approved by the candidates.

Davis and surrogates hit Liggett hard on a proposed gas tax increase and social issues, while Liggett fought back late in the campaign by focusing on a recent fine imposed by the Indiana Department of Labor on Davis’ company for an alleged violation of labor laws on a Randolph County project.

Davis, the owner of Limestone Products Inc. and a former employee of Meshberger Bros. Stone Corp., won 17 of 21 precincts in Jay County. The lone exceptions were the precincts in Dunkirk and Redkey. Liggett lives south of Redkey.

While, Davis won Jay County by 962, his margin was even bigger (1,301) in the 25 precincts in Randolph County that are part of District 33.

But the biggest surprise of the night may have come in the easternmost precincts of Delaware County, expected to lean Democratic. Davis won Delaware County by 146 votes.

Davis, a founding member of Jay County Development Corporation and a former president of the Portland Area Chamber of Commerce, thanked the voters and his employees at LPI during Tuesday night’s gathering.

Liggett, who won his seat in a second try against Republican David Hoover in 1992, had beaten five different challengers since that time to win a total of six terms.

Davis took about 56 percent of the vote in Jay County (4,569 to 3,607), while the margin was slightly larger in Randolph County, where his 4,782 to 3,481 win gave the challenger about 57.8 percent to Liggett’s 42.1 percent.

Liggett, who had focused heavily on labor issues and who served as chairman of the House employment and labor committee, said, “It’s been a privilege to serve. I’ve really been honored with my ... years in the general assembly.”

He said he was making no decisions about his political future, saying he would discuss that with his family.

“It’s awfully hard for a family to go through a campaign — especially one of this magnitude,” Liggett said.[[In-content Ad]]