Published: May 06, 2008 09:57 pm         

Indiana House roundup — Senate tax chairman wins; at least one House incumbent loses

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — State Senate Tax Chairman Luke Kenley won the first primary he has faced since joining the Senate in 1992, fending off an opponent Tuesday who had run in part on an anti-property tax platform.

Kenley, R-Noblesville, defeated Ken Geesaman of Noblesville in Senate District 20. Geesaman had said the property tax relief and restructuring plan that Kenley helped craft and get passed this year was a “feeble attempt” at relief. Kenley disagreed.

“We didn’t take it for granted that this seat was an entitlement,” Kenley said after his win. “We really worked hard, went door to door, sent flowers. I could tell the people that I produced some concrete results (with the tax plan). I suppose if it hadn’t gotten done, we would have been in a lot worst position.”

Meanwhile, a former Republican state senator will get a chance to reclaim her old seat in November after winning a four-way primary, while several incumbents in the House also won.

Jean Leising of Oldenburg, who served in the Senate from 1988 to 1996, hopes to replace outgoing Sen. Robert Jackman of Milroy in Senate District 42. He is not seeking re-election.

At least one legislative incumbent was defeated. Goshen Republican Rep. John Ulmer, who was first elected in 1998, was soundly beaten by real estate agent Wes Culver in District 49.

Cass County Deputy Prosecutor Randall Head of Logansport won a four-way GOP contest in Senate District 18, where Sen. Thomas Weatherwax is not running again. Head will face Democrat Linda Klinck, the deputy mayor of Logansport, in the fall election.

Carlin Yoder of Middlebury beat two other Republicans for the District 12 seat being vacated by Sen. Marvin Riegsecker, who is not seeking re-election.

Although the general public may pay little attention to legislative primary races, the legislative caucuses and the state parties do because results in some contests help them decide where to distribute money and other resources in the fall.

That’s especially important in the House, where Democrats have a slim 51-49 advantage in a chamber that has been narrowly divided for years. Republicans rule the Senate 33-17.

Although incumbents rarely lose in primaries, the last two saw surprising upsets of two of Indiana’s longest-serving lawmakers — Senate Finance Chairman Larry Borst in 2004 and Senate President Pro Tem Robert Garton in 2006.

Long-term lawmakers such as Sen. Teresa Lubbers, R-Indianapolis, and Kenley left nothing to chance this year. Lubbers also campaigned hard in her race against retired federal employee Ken Morgan, who said he was running on anger over skyrocketing property tax bills that hit many people in parts of Marion County that are in Senate District 30.

The district was one of 14 contested Senate primaries this year, when 25 seats are on the ballot. It’s the highest number of contested primaries in the Republican-ruled chamber in at least a decade and could reflect discontent over taxes and other issues and the fact there were five open seats.

All 100 House seats were on the ballot, with 32 contested primaries. That’s one fewer than 2006, even though there were nine open seats.

This year’s open seats guaranteed there will be at least 14 fresh faces in the Legislature, but plenty of incumbents will return after the November election. In the House alone, 34 incumbents — 19 Democrats and 15 Republicans — had no primary opponent, nor did the other party have someone on the ballot for those seats.

Only 20 incumbents faced party opposition in the House, while seven of 20 Senate incumbents running faced primary contests.