It is mid-term election time, and many are still on the fence about picking their favored candidates, especially at the local level. If you are struggling to decide which candidates to vote for, use the following VIP Voter’s Guide to help you make your decisions on November 6th.
Understanding the Guide will require a bit of a “Map Key” for understanding. Obviously, as in most cases;
(R) stands for Republicans,
(D) stands for Democrats,
(L) stands for Libertarians, and
(I) is for Independents.
Bolded Blue names are those candidates whom the constituent panel of The VIP believes have stood out amongst their opponents and will represent the people from a place of justice and fairness.
Republican, Democrat, Libertarian, Independent, Green Party, Pirate Party, and “Other” are among the party selections with “Write-Ins” also listed.
While voting at a voting machine, if there are Write-In candidates for whom you wish to vote, select “Write-In” and a keyboard will appear on the screen. Separately type the name of each person you want to write-in, then select “Record Write-In.” The normal voting screen will return and the name you entered will appear as the choice for that particular race.
In addition to the Candidates and their listed parties, there will also be a grading system listed according to the candidate answers given to the Southwestern Indiana Right to Life regarding Pro-Death and Pro-Life.
The grading system will be just like in most schools, A+ through F. Those with an A or A+ rating are those ranked best in the eyes of Southwestern Indiana Right to Life… which means that the answers to their questionnaires indicated that they are pro-life.
Many of the candidates either accidentally failed to return the questionnaire… or did so deliberately to hide their position from voters. Either way, the absence of definitive answers to the pointed questions causes the candidates to receive an automatic F-rating. Such a failure to return the questionnaire will be signified by *F. This *F is not necessarily the same as an F-rating without an asterisk (*) which signifies a Pro-Abortion stance, and possible support of Planned Parenthood.
Some of the candidates may not have enough information available to Indiana Right To Life for us to know their stance on abortion, in which case, Not Enough Information is listed beside their name. And then… there are those who receive the worst grade possible, which is a straight “F” because they have indicated through their questionnaire or through their own words, that they support Planned Parenthood and ultimately, abortion.
We, at The VIP, believe Dr. Seuss was right when he wrote, “A person’s a person no matter how small.” So, we encourage you to use the information provided below to help you determine your choices and to make a difference in the lives of those around you in your community, and for these babies… by using your voice, The Voice of the People, by casting your vote on Tuesday, November 6th, 2018.
US SENATOR:
Joe Donnelly (D) F – Pro-Abortion: Supports Planned Parenthood
Lucy M. Brenton (L) *F
Mike Braun (R) A+
Nathan Altman (I)
Write-In *F Christopher Fischer (I)
Write-In *F James L. Johnson Jr. (Other) *F
SECRETARY OF STATE:
Jim Harper (D) *F
Mark Rutherford (L) *F
Connie Lawson (R) A+
Write-In George William Wolfe (G) *F
Write-In Jeremy Heath (P) *F
AUDITOR OF STATE:
Joselyn Whitticker (D) *F
John Schick (L)*F
Tera Klutz (R) *F
TREASURER OF STATE:
John C. Aguilera (D) *F
Kelly Mitchell (R) A
US REPRESENTATIVE 8TH DISTRICT:
William Tanoos (D) *F
Larry D. Bucshon (R) A+
STATE SENATOR DISTRICT 49:
Jim Tomes (R) A
Edie Hardcastle (D) *F
STATE REPRESENTATIVE DISTRICT 74:
Larry K. Kleeman (D) Not enough information
Stephen R. Bartels (R) Not enough information
STATE REPRESENTATIVE DISTRICT 75:
John Hurley (D) Not enough information
Ron Bacon (R) A+
STATE REPRESENTATIVE DISTRICT 76:
Stephen Folz (Steve) (D) *F
Wendy (Mac) McNamara (R) *F
PROSECUTING ATTORNEY VANDERBURGH COUNTY 1ST JUDICIAL CIRCUIT:
Stanley M. Levco (D) F – Pro-Abortion
Nicholas G. Hermann (R) A+
VANDERBURGH COUNTY COMMISSIONER DISTRICT 2:
Michael J. Duckworth Sr. (R) A+
Jeff Hatfield (D) A+
VANDERBURGH COUNTY COUNCIL DISTRICT 4:
John Montrastelle (R) A+
Glenn Miller (D) *F
ARMSTRONG TOWNSHIP BOARD MEMBER:
James Memmer (R) *F
David W Schmitt (R) *F
Nicholas Wildeman (R) *F
CENTER TOWNSHIP BOARD MEMBER:
Tom Gant (R) A+
J Ervin Stafford Stucki (R) B
James F Tolen (R) A
KNIGHT TOWNSHIP TRUSTEE:
Johnny Kincaid (R) A+
Kathryn Martin (D) *F
KNIGHT TOWNSHIP BOARD MEMBER:
Donald R Boerner (R) B
Norman L Kniese Jr. (R) A
David Woods (R) *F
GERMAN TOWNSHIP BOARD MEMBER:
John Bassemier (R) A+
Frank T Peterlin (R) A+
Beverly White-Rowley (R) B
PERRY TOWNSHIP BOARD MEMBER:
James L Eickhoff (D) *F
Charlie Guetling (D) *F
Lloyd D Jost (D) *F
PIGEON TOWNSHIP BOARD MEMBER:
Shirley A Baker (D) *F
Ruby Mcglown (D) *F
Bridgett Tate (D) *F
SCOTT TOWNSHIP BOARD MEMBER:
Steve Jackson (R) *F
Keith D Kahre (R) A+
Jim Mccutchan (R) *F
UNION TOWNSHIP BOARD MEMBER:
Michael Kolb (R) *F
Jonathon D Mcclintock (R) *F
Chris Winiger (R) *F
SCHOOL BOARD – DISTRICT 1:
Chris Keifer Non-Partisan A
Jean Webb Non-Partisan *F
SCHOOL BOARD – DISTRICT 2
Ann Ennis Non-Partisan A+
R. Clark Exmeyer Non-Partisan Not enough information
Andy Guarino Non-Partisan *F
SCHOOL BOARD – AT LARGE:
David Hollingsworth Non-Partisan Not enough information
Melissa Moore Non-Partisan Not enough information
Rance Ossenberg Non-Partisan A+
The three questions at the end of your candidate selection will read as follows:
Court of Appeals Judge Retention
COURT OF APPEALS JUDICIAL RETENTION DISTRICT 2:
“Shall Judge Robert R. (Bob) Altice, Jr. be retained in office?”
Yes
Ratification of State Constitutional Amendment:
PUBLIC QUESTION #1:
“Shall Article 10, Section 5 of the Constitution of the State of Indiana be amended to require the General Assembly to adopt balanced budgets for state government that do not exceed estimated revenues unless a supermajority of two-thirds of the members of the House of Representatives and two-thirds of the members of the Senate vote to suspend the requirement?”
Yes
Indiana Supreme Court Justice Retention
SUPREME COURT JUSTICE:
“Shall Justice Geoffrey G. Slaughter be retained in office?”
Yes
Now get out there and vote!
*All selections listed above and in the printed article in the November VIP are the expressed educated opinions of state and local constituents, and are to be viewed as opinions of such. Any opposition to the above opinions is certainly your Constitutionally-protected right to have your own opinion to be expressed on your own property and social media pages.
