Local House race interesting

It took awhile for the ballot to shape up, but it looks as if local voters are going to be faced with some interesting choices in the weeks and months ahead.

At the top of our list would have to be the expected face-off between longtime Democratic State Rep. Ron Liggett and his Republican challenger Bill Davis.

We say "expected face-off" because, technically, Davis still has a primary race ahead of him.

But with last week's district-wide withdrawal tour by Noel "Bud" Carpenter, the May contest is really no contest at all.

Carpenter, the Randolph County assessor who ran against Liggett two years ago, was enthusiastic in his support for Davis, saying it took just 15 minutes of phone conversation to convince him to step aside.

That translates into a November contest between two strong, strikingly different candidates.

Liggett, a resident of rural Redkey, has built a record with strong ties to Democratic leadership in the Indiana House, particularly with House Speaker Pat Bauer of South Bend. He has focused on labor issues and has used Build Indiana money over the years to shore up support throughout the district.

The budget crisis, however, has put Build Indiana grants on the skids.

And Liggett has spent a good chunk of his most recent term involved in an often-nasty squabble with Randolph County officials over issues that have bordered on the petty.

Davis, meanwhile, may be a political natural.

He's a regular guy with an air of humility that can't be faked. But he's also articulate, a veteran of the coffee shop debate circuit, who knows how to express his point and how to win an argument.

Over the years, he's also earned a reputation as a leader in the area of economic development in east central Indiana. He did it with hard work and shoe leather.

When Bill Davis became president of the Portland Area Chamber of Commerce in the 1980s, things looked bleak. The organization was in shambles, and business closings were the order of the day. Davis took it upon himself to hit the streets and talk to chamber members. His message was simple: The community is in trouble, and we need to set old issues behind us if we're going to tackle the challenges we face.

It worked.

Much of Jay County's economic development success of the late 1980s and 1990s can be traced to Davis's tenure at the head of the Portland chamber. That's when things really started to happen.

What's that add up to for the voter?

A race, a truly interesting race.

And that, in the long run, is what voters are always looking for. — J.R.[[In-content Ad]]