Wednesday, August 02, 2006

Thomas In For Thomas

The father of retiring Rep. Andy Thomas (R-Brazil) will take his place on the November ballot. Brazil attorney Amos Thomas was chosen by Republican committee persons in District 44 to replace Andy, who recently withdrew his re-election candidacy, on the 5th ballot. The Terre Haute Tribune-Star reports:

Thirty precinct committee members from District 44 elected the elder Thomas in a caucus Wednesday evening in Greencastle. Six candidates sought the spot on the ballot. Amos Thomas emerged as the choice by gaining the required majority of votes on the fifth vote. He totaled 18 votes to Putnam County businessman Ken Eitel’s 12 in the deciding tally, said Jerry Ensor, GOP county chairman for Putnam County. Jeremy Carver, Kathy Deer, Fritz Maurer and Darwyn Nelson also sought the candidacy. Precinct committee members voted after the candidates spoke for three minutes each.


Thomas will face Democrat Richard Thompson in the fall. District 44 is viewed as a Republican-leaning district, although a Democrat win is not out of the question. Thomas' win tonight is a loss for Christian right activists, who would have preferred Ken Eitel. Eitel nearly toppled Andy Thomas in the primary a couple of years ago.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I was just curious why Amos Thomas winning was a loss for Christians. I am a resident of District 44 and I believe that the entire Thomas family is a good, Christian family.

Gary R. Welsh said...

It isn't a loss for Christians. We have an organized religious right in this state, however, which would have preferred someone who would promote their extremist agenda in the General Assembly. I don't think Mr. Thomas will become another Eric Miller puppet.