Unslated candidate for judge seeks review of Democrats' mailing
A Democratic candidate for judge has asked election officials to investigate a mailing his party sent out earlier this week that he says falsely implies he is ineligible for Tuesday's primary election.
Gregory Bowes, who is running for Marion Superior Court against the party's slate of endorsed candidates, filed a complaint Saturday with the county elections board.
At issue is a mailer that includes an "Official Ballot" for recipients to tear off and take with them to the polls. But the names of unslated candidates, including Bowes, are removed and replaced with the words "This Candidate Not Recommended."
"This sample ballot might suggest to some voters that the Election Board or the Clerk have officially 'not recommended' certain candidates on the ballot," Bowes wrote in his complaint.
He said the mailing might be especially confusing to voters after the Indiana Supreme Court removed another county judge, Democrat Kimberly Brown, from the bench earlier this year.
Bowes is asking the election board to determine whether any election laws have been broken and to confiscate the mailings.
Angie Nussmeyer, director of elections for the Marion County Election Board, sent a letter to Marion County Democratic Party Chairman Joel Miller on Saturday saying it is "preliminarily gathering facts and evidence regarding these complaints." The letter asks him to respond as soon as possible if he wants to contest the allegations. The Election Board meets next at 6 a.m. Tuesday at which time the complaint could be considered.
Miller dismissed Bowes' complaint as a publicity stunt.
"The sample ballot goes only to Democratic voters, it says it's from the Democratic Party, and it says he's not a candidate recommended by the party," Miller said. "There's nothing misleading about it."
The mailer was sent to 15,000 to 20,000 voters on Wednesday or Thursday, he said.
The complaint represents the second time in a week that an unendorsed Democrat running for judge has clashed with his party.
On Wednesday, Marion Circuit Judge Louis Rosenberg denied a request from another unslated candidate, David Hennessy, who wanted access to voter registration records.
The records include telephone numbers and home and email addresses — valuable data unavailable to nonslated candidates but available to endorsed candidates through the state's major political parties. Bowes, acting as Hennessy's attorney in the case, argued that lack of access to those records puts nonslated candidates at a competitive disadvantage with those endorsed by the party.
State law allows Supreme Court chief justices, the media, leaders of the Senate and House of Representatives, and major political parties access to voter information. Bowes said party-backed political candidates, "by implication," have the same access.
But Rosenberg said the plaintiffs were unable to show enough evidence of potential harm to Hennessy if the request for an emergency order were denied. The judge added that there was not enough proof presented that party-endorsed candidates did get information that Hennessy did not.
The lawsuit and the new election complaint highlights the contention surrounding a unique state law that dictates how Marion Superior Court judges are elected. The process requires candidates seeking endorsements to pay a hefty fee of $12,000 to $14,000 to their respective political parties and guarantees Democratic and Republican candidates never run against each other in the general election.
Neither Bowes nor Hennessy sought the party's endorsement because they said the process is unfair.
Call Star reporter Tony Cook at (317) 444-6081. Follow him on Twitter: @indystartony.