Another Legislator Quitting Legislature To Become Lobbyist

The revolving door continues from the State House chambers to the State House hallways. Fort Wayne Observed is reporting on the soon-to-be-announced departure of State Rep. Randy Borror (R-Ft. Wayne) from the House to become a lobbyist. Borror unsuccessfully sought the nomination in the Third District to replace U.S. Rep. Mark Souder. He is currently a candidate for re-election. FWOB suggests Borror's new position will require him to resign his seat immediately, paving the way for yet another caucus election of a candidate to both fill his current House seat and replace him on the November ballot. Nikki Kelly of the Fort Wayne Journal-Gazette says he has accepted a lobbying position with Bose Public Affairs Group. Kelly reports:

Veteran Rep. Randy Borror, R-Fort Wayne, is leaving the Indiana legislature effective today to run a new Fort Wayne office of a large state lobbying firm.


"This was a brutal decision for me," he said. "For 28 years I have been involved in politics in one way, shape or form. For the last 10 years I have dedicated myself to the state. The next 10 years and beyond I am dedicating to my family."

Borror, 52, has served in the Indiana House of Representatives since 2001, and in the 1980s worked with U.S. Sen. Richard Lugar and the National Republican Senatorial Committee in Washington. He also recently was one of 15 people seeking to replace former U.S. Rep. Mark Souder on the fall ballot.

After this year's legislative session and the recent caucus to replace Souder, Borror said he realized he has been missing important things in his 12-year-old daughter's life.

So when Bose Public Affairs Group LLC presented him an offer, he decided to change gears.

Borror will open a new Fort Wayne office, which will provide consulting services to clients on legislative and political strategies with a special focus on the executive branch and state agencies.

He plans to spend more time in Fort Wayne, but will still work some in Indianapolis.

This is just a continuation of the trend of legislators to use their legislative positions to springboard into higher paying jobs as lobbyists. I long ago figured out that the Indiana legislature is equally as corrupt as the Illinois legislature for whom I once worked. These guys here don't have a decent federal prosecutor breathing down their necks, which is why so many corrupt pols get prosecuted and sent to prison in Illinois. Instead, we get political hack U.S. Attorneys and a totally corrupt local prosecutor, Carl Brizzi. Kelly notes that a new ethics law signed into law this year bars legislators from lobbiing their colleagues for one year after leaving the legislature. Borror told Kelly he will wait at least a year before lobbying the legislature, even though the law has not yet taken effect. He will, however, lobby the Daniels administration with whom he has worked very closely as a legislator.