Bosma To Face Serious Democratic Challenger

A serious Democratic candidate has stepped forward to challenge House Speaker Brian Bosma (R-Indianapolis) for his District 88 seat, which encompasses most of Lawrence Township, the Geist Reservoir area and a small portion of Hamilton County. Susan Fuldauer, a 49-year old public relations director for an insurance company, has been slated by Democrats to challenge Bosma the Star reports.

"Indiana is teetering on the edge of a new era in government," Fuldauer said in a news release. "Hoosiers are becoming tired and frustrated with old-style politicians running our state government."

While Fuldauer appears to be a credible candidate, she will have her work cut out for her. The district Bosma represents tilts heavily in favor of the Republicans. Bosma has represented the area for 20 years. His strident conservatism, however, may be out of step with many people in his district.

As Speaker, Bosma has pushed an extremely conservative, Christian fundamentalist agenda. He has advanced a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriages and civil unions, has supported some of the most ant-abortion legislation to come through the legislature in many years and has wrestled with a federal court over the constitutionality of permitting blatantly Christian prayers in formal House proceedings. Bosma faced a huge embarrassment earlier this session when even members of his own caucus rebelled against an amendment Bosma permitted Rep. Jeff Thompson to offer, which would have nullified gay rights ordinances adopted by local communities, such as Indianapolis; Bosma prevailed upon Thompson to withdraw the amendment after it was so negatively received.

If Fuldauer runs as a fiscal conservative but a social moderate, she may be successful in making inroads into Bosma's traditonal Republican base. Bosma in the past has run unopposed or faced only token opposition. This may be one of the first serious challengers he has faced in his 20-year career. He was able to ride the coattails of his father's long-time service as a state senator to win the seat originally. It remains to be seen whether Democrats will actually put some real money behind Fuldauer's candidacy.