Midday Report

Turnout is approaching historic lows citywide.

Early Morning Report

Turnout is very light.

Its too early to tell which way the campaigns are going.

Prediction: Mayoral Races

New Haven
Byrd got the kiss of death endorsement for Republican candidates. The newspaper endorsed Byrd based on McDonald being the more vocal opponent of county consolidation. Most New Haven residents are closer to being in line with McDonald on that issue.

Prediction: McDonald

Fort Wayne
On the Democratic ticket there is no debate. Henry is the only viable choice on the ticket.

Prediction: Henry

The Republican ticket for Mayor is the main event for the Allen county primary and most arguably in the state of Indiana. In this race Peters started with a large head start being the county commissioner. Area pundits (other than me) say that Kelty has out-worked Peters, that he has the momentum and that the experience factor isn't motivating people to the polls. People are being motivated by Harrison Square and the smoking ordinance.

Prediction: Kelty

Prediction for At-Large Republicans

The race for the Republican nominations for Fort Wayne City Council At-large is expected to be one of the tightest in the history of the city. Six candidates are vying for three spots to be on the fall ballot.

Its also not a race that gets all the glamour or money thats seen in the mayoral race. That means this race is going to be determined for the most part by how much the candidate injects their campaign into the communities within Fort Wayne.

My predictions (in no particular order):

Crawford
Morris
Mildred

FWCS and Asher Agency Scandal

Apparently Asher Ad Agency will no longer be doing business with the local Republican Party. This is after Asher sold or gave a list that had been given to Asher for the purpose of a candidate's campaign to the Yellow Ribbon petition group. This violates confidentiality standards that clients expect to receive when they give outside company's sensitive information.

This also raises an ethics question concerning the Fort Wayne Community Schools Administration in regards to the yellow ribbon petition drive. They should never have asked Asher to break the confidence of a client. If Asher offered the list to FWCS then they should have refused it. It appears that FWCS will do anything to defeat a remonstrance.

If you are offended by receiving the Yellow Petition Letter I urge you to call Mr. Tim Borne at 424-3373 and express your displeasure to him.

Due Diligence

No, this isn't another Harrison Square story.

Its a story about a man named Jed I mean Jeff and a guy named Pat. Jeff Neumeyer thought he had a scandal story on Matt Kelty when Kelty's campaign website claimed him to be a former walk-on at Notre Dame. Jeff went so far as to check the roster during the Jerry Faust years. He didn't find Kelty's name on those rosters.

Well, anybody who has seen the movie Rudy knows that there are those who never appear on the roster who are considered part of the team. Jeff's mistake was at this point in his research. Rather than check a second source to be sure, he reported without verifying his facts. Thats a big no-no in journalism.

But as big a goof as this is for Jeff Neumeyer and Indiana News Center, its a bigger black eye for Pat White. Pat made a bigger deal about it than Jeff did but didn't do any pretence of investigation.

Though the story sounds incredulous at first, Coach Faust called into WOWO this morning to confirm that Kelty was a walk-on punter for the team. My sources at the radio station say they have been inundated with calls and emails asking for a retraction by Pat White.

Predictions- City Council At-Large (Democrats)

These are the seven candidates for the Democrat Party's nomination for FW city council at large seats. I expect a low turnout for the Democrat primary as a whole due to crossover into the Kelty-Peters race. This race will be the most competitive.

I expect the winners of the primary nomination to be (in no order) Shoaff, Cline, Porter-Ross.

I picked John Shoaff because he is an incumbent with great name ID among Democrats and is very active within the local Democrat Party.

Denise Porter-Ross is also a well-known figure in Democrat circles and has credibility through working in the neighborhoods as a representative of the city.

Richard Cline was my third choice because of his campaign activity. It was a tough decision between him and Tom Essex.


Candidate List
John Shoaff (Incumbent)
Thomas Essex
Eddie Arrington
Melvin Billingsley
Richard Cline
Denise Porter-Ross
Michael Reef

Party Etiquette

I've been asked questions by people who attended last night's bean dinner about the etiquette of presenters at party functions wearing a candidate's favors. (The above picture from last night is courtesy of Barb Kelsaw).

Normally it would be considered bad form in a primary. In this case it could be debated as he held a press conference for Nelson Peters earlier in the day and is not a secret within Republican circles.

At Ten Paces Turn and Fire

These billboards are back to back on the same billboard structure at the corner of Broadway and Taylor Streets near General Electric. Its a duel to the finish.