Ron Herrell The Darling of Special Interests
I have read with much interest the initial jabs being thrown in the House District 30 primary election race shaping up between Representative Ron Herrell and his opponent Chuck Sosbe, Jr. One of Herrell’s most interesting responses to his primary opposition was to accuse Sosbe of being a lobbyist. You would think by his comments that Ron Herrell never goes near those nasty old lobbyists. However, a quick examination of the facts reveals a far different story.
Recently, I completed an in-depth review of Ron Herrell’s campaign finance reports for 2006, 2007 and 2008. I must admit that I was shocked and appalled by what I learned. First, let me say that this information is not top secret. It is available for public inspection on the Indiana Secretary of State website. Second, if you cannot locate the information, I would be happy to provide you with a copy of my study.
Representative Herrell received $175,733 in campaign contributions for 2006-2008. Of that amount only $1,375 came from individual contributors. That means that 99.3% of Herrell’s funding came from special interests.
Representative Herrell received $5,965 from individuals and special interests located in Howard County. That means that 96.61% came from special interests outside of his district.
Previous to this study of Representative Herrell’s campaign finances, I was somewhat perplexed by a quote of his at the end of the special legislative session. According to an article in the Kokomo Tribune on July 1, 2009, Herrell said, “House Speaker Pat Bauer allowed members of the Democratic caucus freedom to “vote for their districts.” I wondered at the time why a representative would not “vote for their district” every time. The study of Representative Herrell’s campaign finances sheds some light on the real meaning of this quote. When you receive over 96% of your campaign funds from outside the district, you are expected to vote their interests on demand and not those of your constituents.
Is it really any wonder why WTHR news was able to catch Representative Herrell casting votes for multiple representatives and why Representative Herrell admitted to allowing other representatives to cast votes for him? If you missed this video, you can view it on the Howard County Republican website, www.howardcountyrepublicans.org. Simply put, a representative should represent his district and you cannot feed at the trough of special interest money to the degree that Herrell has and maintain your independence. Follow the money and you can understand Herrell’s lock-step voting with Speaker Pat Bauer and the usual suspects of the tax and spend, block all progress special interest gang.
Howard County faces an uncertain future as we restructure, downsize, economize and deal with the effects of globalization. We will need elected officials who represent our needs and support our goals. Voting decisions must be made for the people of District 30 and not by some special interest fat cat in a high-rise suite in Indianapolis. This is why we desperately need new blood in House District 30. Special interest politics as usual will not help our teachers, our students, our workers, our industry, our businesses or our families. As the campaign for House District 30 unfolds in the coming months, ask yourself repeatedly, “Who will best serve the voters of the district?” Will it be someone with strong local support and a tried and true record of supporting his constituents like Mike Karickhoff or will it be someone dangling on the strings of the ultimate puppet-master Speaker Pat Bauer, Ron Herrell? Follow the money!
|