The mess that Souder created

At the rate things are going, they may soon have to issue scorecards to keep track of the 3rd District race for the Republican nomination for Congress. The field just keeps growing and growing and growing.

That's the congressional seat that's opening up because of Mark Souder's recent resignation after acknowledging an extramarital affair.

It's the seat that once upon a time represented Jay County and Adams County, but these days we're in the very safe GOP district for Mike Pence. The seat is so safely Republican that only something like the Souder scandal could begin to push Pence out before he's ready to retire or move on to higher office.

The 3rd District is a bit more of a toss-up, but Souder's departure has plenty of Republicans thinking it's their shot at Congress.

So far, the GOP field is at 15. It not only features a car dealer who dumped tens of thousands of dollars of his own money into a primary challenge against Souder but also a couple of well-known state lawmakers, some local officials, and at least one TV newscaster.

And the deadline isn't until next Wednesday.

Our guess is that the total number of Republican candidates could hit 20 by that time.

District precinct committee people will decide on June 12 who the GOP nominee will be for both the special election and the regular general election, which will both be held in November.

It's anybody's guess how that will turn out, given the number of candidates and the small number of those who will actually be voting to slate someone.

On the Democratic side, things are a little simpler and a lot less crowded.

Dr. Tom Hayhurst, who challenged Souder in 2008, won his party's primary and is a shoo-in to be the special election nominee when Democrats caucus on June 17.

As for former Rep. Souder, he's been keeping a very, very low profile.

And given the mess he has created, that's understandable. - J.R.[[In-content Ad]]