A special congressional election could cost northeast Indiana taxpayers more than $500,000, but some efforts are under way to eliminate that expense.
Gov. Mitch Daniels is required to call a special election to fill the vacancy when Rep. Mark Souder’s resignation takes effect Friday. Souder announced Tuesday he is leaving Congress after admitting an affair with a part-time staffer.
Such an election would not be cheap. Estimates from counties across the district revealed it could cost as much as $540,000 with Allen County bearing about half the bill. Allen County, however, will also have the most sway in the upcoming Republican caucus when it comes to deciding who will appear on the ballot.
Jason McSherry, Kosciusko County clerk, said it would cost his county’s taxpayers about $50,000 in part because he would have to hire 325 poll workers just as if it were a typical election. County officials from across the region said the election would have to be conducted just like a regular election, with time to register, time for early voting and having polling places open on Election Day.
While McSherry said it likely wouldn’t be overly burdensome for his County Council to give him the extra money for the election, that wasn’t the point.
“We have much better things we can spend $50,000 on,” he said.
Allen County GOP Chairman Steve Shine said he has been talking with state officials in an effort to keep counties from spending that extra money. He said the governor could call the special election for the same day as the fall general election.
Election officials said it would be impossible to hold a special election sooner than 60 days after Souder’s resignation, but there are no rules or laws that require the governor to call the election by a certain date. Daniels legally could wait until November to hold the special election, although his staff said he has not made any decisions.
This would mean voters would be voting for the Indiana’s 3rd District in Congress twice on the same ballot, likely between the same opponents. It would keep counties from having to pay for a separate election, but it would also mean northeast Indiana residents would be without a congressional representative until November.
Whether four months of representation is worth a half-million dollars is a difficult question, according to Andy Downs, director of the Mike Downs Center for Indiana Politics. He said while it is a lot of money, there is also plenty of work that would not be done for the district during that time. That includes voting on important bills, writing military academy recommendation letters and arranging tours of the U.S. Capitol for visiting constituents.
But Shine said the timing of Souder’s announcement makes combining the elections the perfect option, noting that Congress is usually in recess over the summer.
“The amount of time would be so limited compared to the costs involved,” he said. “It is becoming illogical to have a half-million-dollar election in late July or August when there is going to be a rerun of the same thing in November.”
Downs said combining the elections would also save plenty of money for the candidates, who would have to run only one campaign instead of running in July and again in November.
Allen dominance
Even before the special election can be conducted, Republicans in the 3rd District must choose their candidate to face Democrat Tom Hayhurst.
Making that decision will be about 520 precinct officials across eight counties. Half of those votes come from Allen County, the population center of the district. Kosciusko County is second with 65 precincts, although county officials could not confirm whether all of the precinct positions are filled.
Downs said while this bodes well for Allen-based candidates, they should not take it for granted. He called the caucus race “retail politics” as candidates should plan to personally call as many precinct officials as possible to secure the nomination.
“Five people could make the difference,” he said.
While there are some vacant precinct positions in counties, people can’t participate in the caucus unless they are in the position 30 days before the vacancy occurred, which is basically a month before Friday.
