GOP Sets Caucus In Third District Race

Third District Republican precinct committepersons will meet on June 12th in Columbia City to nominate the party's candidate for both the special election and November general election ballot to replace U.S. Rep. Mark Souder, who resigned after admitting to having an affair with a female member of his staff. Fort Wayne City Councilor Mitch Harper is calling on the Allen Co. GOP to make its list of committeepersons available to the public at his blog, Fort Wayne Observed. "You would think the names of the precinct committeepersons would be public information available through the Election Board," he writes. "That used to be the case but is not the case now." He laments about a state law that permits the parties to keep the lists private and says he recently sought a change in the party's by-laws to make the list public. He says that some opposed his proposal because they didn't want to be contacted by the public, and because some law enforcement officers didn't want it known that they serve as precinct committeepersons.  Huh? As Marion County has had its share of caucuses in recent years, I can attest to candidate complaints that the respective parties provided them with outdated and inaccurate lists when the county chairman favored another candidate over them. Nobody really knew whether the people who presented themselves as PCs were actually PCs. At a GOP caucus a few years ago, people complained about PCs with out-of-state license plates showing up to vote.