WASHINGTON – Where Republican candidate Bob Thomas lives, his wealth and his use of Indianapolis vendors make him suspect as a contender for the northeast Indiana congressional seat, says incumbent Rep. Mark Souder, R-3rd.
Thomas is one of three candidates trying to unseat Souder in the May 4 GOP primary.
In a radio ad that began airing this week, Souder jabs at Thomas, who owns car dealerships in Fort Wayne and Indianapolis, lived in an Indianapolis suburb for 25 years and recently leased a home on Fort Wayne’s north side.
Souder refers to Thomas as “rich Bob” because in an interview last month Thomas said he is prepared to spend at least as much as Souder during the campaign and has “enough money to put on a very, very serious campaign.”
Thomas said Friday that Souder’s complaints are off base. Thomas said his orientation in Indiana has been toward Fort Wayne, where he lived for five years in the 1980s.
He said he moved to Carmel in 1985 because Ford made it a condition of his taking over the dealership in Indianapolis.
“If I look at where I have had the most impact on the people of Indiana and what part of Indiana has had the most impact on me,” he said, “you start adding up things like salaries paid, property taxes paid, withholding taxes held, sales taxes, it’s overwhelmingly the 3rd District. … I only have a house in Hamilton County. That’s the district that has the least impact on me.”
Besides, Thomas said, Souder did something similar when he moved back to Indiana to run for Congress.
“Are we talking about the same Mark Souder who instantly supported Dan Coats for his bid for the Senate seat who was still living and had been living for 12 years in Virginia? And is this the same Mark Souder who had lived in the Washington, D.C., area for 10 years until about two or three months before coming back here and filing for the same seat we’re talking about? … If that’s the same Mark Souder, he’s an incredible hypocrite,” Thomas said.
Souder, who grew up in Grabill, worked for Coats on Capitol Hill until mid-1993, when he returned to Indiana and six months later became a formal candidate for the congressional seat he won in the 1994 election.
In his radio ad, Souder says Thomas is using an Indianapolis pollster, advertising consultant and staff member.
He said Thomas’ use of TV ads – they begin airing today – “does suggest Bob thinks a seat in Congress is for sale.”
Souder’s other radio commercials are critical of President Obama and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and do not mention Thomas.
