A former Republican congressional aide who is now a lobbyist for Indiana State University said he was considering a campaign to challenge Democratic U.S. Rep. Brad Ellsworth.
Greg Goode, Indiana State's executive assistant to the president for external affairs, said he had been asked by others to run against Ellsworth, who won the seat last year by defeating longtime Republican Rep. John Hostettler.
Goode has been attending Lincoln Day Dinners and other GOP events in southwestern Indiana's 8th District in recent months.
"I think he'd be an excellent candidate. I'd love to see him run," Vigo County Republican Party Chairman Bill Treadway said. "He's a first-rate guy and does a great job at ISU."
Goode, 34, is the university's liaison in dealings with the state Legislature, Commission for Higher Education, city officials and the Indiana congressional delegation. He was a legislative assistant to U.S. Rep. Ed Pease during 1997-2001 and was chief of staff to U.S. Rep. Brian Kerns, who was in Congress during 2001-03.
Ellsworth had been the Vanderburgh County sheriff for eight years before he received about 61 percent of the vote to defeat Hostettler in last November's election. He was among three Democratic candidates to unseat incumbent Republican congressmen in Indiana as Democrats won control of the U.S. House for
the first time since 1994.
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Thursday, May 24, 2007
ISU Lobbyist May Challenge Ellsworth
ISU lobbyist and former congressional aide Greg Goode might challenge U.S. Rep. Brad Ellsworth (D) in his first bid for re-election next year. Goode is a former aide to two former lawmakers, U.S. Rep. Ed Pease (R) and his successor, U.S. Rep. Brian Kerns (R). The AP reports:
Both parties expect the race against Ellsworth to be a bigbucks national priority. In 2008 Indiana will once again have three hot national races in CDs 2,8 & 9. The Governor's election will be competitive too. Lots of fun for us Hoosier political junkies...
ReplyDeleteGary, what is his position on GLBT issues -- Matthew Shepard Act and ENDA? We need to flush that out.
ReplyDeleteI know Mr. Goode. The fact that he worked for Rep. Pease...well, let's just say Rep. Pease was and is friendly to GLBT causes. (I beleive he's now chief DC lobbyist for Mercedes Benz. Great gig)
ReplyDeleteGoode is an excellent candidate. Nice guy, too. The Republicans won't win this district back, though. This district is loathe to make changes. Hell, they had a goofball for the last five terms or so.
And, Ellsworth is doing a fantastic job of constituent services. A longtime Vanderburgh Co. Republican business associate told me as much, grudgingly, last week.
The betting money in this state, for a district changeover, is the Baron Hill district. Razor-thin. It can't be won with Sodrel, because he's one bad hair job, and he was so stuck on Bush. That district had Bush at 33% in February...it can't be much better now.
Rumor is they're courting a big name to run against Baron. We'll have to wait and see!
Congressman Ellsworth is safe.
ReplyDeleteCongressman Donnelly is VERY safe.
Congressman Hill is in trouble, especially if Senator Clinton is Presidential nominee.
Oh, and Ellsworth and Donnelly have both done such stellar jobs so far. They're both just sheep following whatever the Demo leadership tells them to do. Baaaa, baaaaa, baaaaa.
ReplyDeleteI wish Mr. Goode all the best. The fact that he worked for Rep. Pease gives him instant credibility.
Now if the GOP can just field viable candidates to run in the 2nd, 7th and 9th....