Ticket Scofflaw Judicial Candidate Under Fire In St. Joseph County

South Bend attorney Andre Gammage is the Democratic candidate for probate judge in St. Joseph County. Gammage had the endorsement of the South Bend Tribune until the newspaper learned that he had accumulated 153 parking tickets since 2008. Gammage took care of the unpaid tickets after he decided to run for judge, but The Tribune withdrew its endorsement of his candidacy upon learning of his disregard for paying his parking tickets until he became a candidate. Others are calling on him to withdraw as a candidate. St. Joseph Co. GOP Chair Deb Fleming is among those now calling on Gammage to withdraw:

"I believe that Mr. Gammage would not set a good example for the young people the probate court needs to help," party Chair Deb Fleming said in a press release sent out by the party Tuesday night. “If he had any integrity, he would withdraw his name from the ballot."
 

State Sen. John Broden, the St. Joseph Co. Democratic Party Chairman, called Fleming's suggestion that Gammage withdraw "ludicrious" and "a truly sad day for politics in St. Joseph County." Gammage's Republican opponent, Jim Fox, is not asking Gammage to withdraw as a candidate, but he thinks his opponent's disregard for the law should be a consideration in next Tuesday's election. According to The Tribune, the city of South Bend agreed to settle Gammage's unpaid parking tickets by allowing him to pay $1,530 of the $2,520 he owed for the unpaid tickets with late fees after it tracked him down and asked him to pay up. The Tribune quoted Indiana University law professor Charles Geyh in announcing its decision to rescind its endorsement of Gammage. "If someone is constantly violating the rules of the law, and only paying up when finally tracked down, I would be worried that it showed a manifest disregard for the rules," Geyh said.