In a news release about his official filing for Congress, State Rep. Randy Borror touted his sponsorship of the bill that authorized the Indiana Toll Road lease.

That may not help him.

After all, some of the Republican precinct committeemen who will choose among a dozen candidates for the party’s nominee to replace Mark Souder are from Steuben, LaGrange and Elkhart – counties through which the Toll Road passes. It is those counties where the lease remains the most unpopular.

Still, some Republican insiders see the race coming down to Borror and State Sen. Marlin Stutzman. Though Bob Thomas did well in the primary, some of his anti-government talk will be remembered by the committeemen – many of whom are themselves elected government officials.

And with Stutzman and some of the other Republicans running as far to the right as they can, Borror might seem to be the moderate – and, usually, moderates have a better chance in November.

Why run? Why not?

“Why not” seems to be the principal reason some of the candidates have declared their intentions to seek the Republican nomination for Souder’s seat.

Yes, the concept that a normal, everyday citizen can represent his or her area in Congress is an American ideal – immortalized by Jimmy Stewart in “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.” But these days, at the very least, successful congressional candidates generally have to have something extra going for them – if not name recognition, at least a unique message or a background in politics or government, or easy access to campaign cash.

Lonnie Powell and Richard Thonert don’t fit any of those definitions, and look for them to be among the first candidates to drop out in the early rounds of the GOP caucus, tentatively set for June 12.

State GOP chairman Murray Clark will be responsible for writing the rules for the caucus – specifically, how the lowest-vote candidates are knocked off the ballot for subsequent rounds. Clark could decide to drop one or more candidates with the lowest votes after each round, or could set a percentage floor for a candidate to remain in subsequent rounds.

The winner must gain more than 50 percent of the vote.

More dominoes?

With four of the 12 Republican candidates holding office, there’s a 1 in 3 chance of yet another Republican caucus late this year – if one of those public officials wins the party’s nomination and goes on to defeat Democrat Thomas Hayhurst this fall.

And if state Sen. Marlin Stutzman wins it all, there’s a good chance that a state representative would seek his seat – creating the possibility of yet another office vacancy requiring a caucus.