Daniels' run for governor begins

INDIANAPOLIS -- State Sen. Murray Clark says he gave a lot of thought and heartfelt contemplation in deciding to drop his bid for governor and join the team behind Mitch Daniels.\nIn the end, he said, it just made sense.\n"I think it's his time," said Clark, a Republican from Indianapolis. "He is the right person at the right time with the right ideas to lead this state forward."\nDaniels took his first formal steps toward running for governor Monday by filing papers to start raising money.\n"I said, 'All right, let's go,'" said Daniels, who has long been expected to run. He finished his last day as White House budget director Friday and drove back to Indianapolis on Saturday.\nSupporters said Clark's withdrawal gave the official start of the Daniels campaign a big boost of contacts and fund-raising strength. Clark was the running mate of gubernatorial nominee David McIntosh in 2000, when they lost to Gov. Frank O'Bannon and Lt. Gov. Joe Kernan. McIntosh is running again this time.\nClark, who detailed the developments at a news conference outside the Statehouse, said he met with Daniels for three hours Sunday night and agreed to head his campaign committee. Daniels was not at the announcement.\nClark said he suggested to Daniels that he "act like a gubernatorial candidate and start getting on the phone and calling his supporters and potential supporters, so that's what he's doing."\nClark said he was not interested in being a running mate if Daniels wins the nomination next May. He said he would return every penny of more than $400,000 made to his own campaign, but predicted many of his donors would now support Daniels.\nDaniels said by telephone that he was "deeply gratified" for Clark's support.\nSeveral top Republicans had encouraged him to run, and when he announced his resignation as budget chief, President Bush said, "This administration's loss is the gain of the people of Indiana."\nDaniels made several public appearances during his trips back to Indiana in recent months, and attended GOP Lincoln Day dinners in Boone, Brown, Cass, Hancock, Harrison, Howard, Rush, St. Joseph and Vanderburgh counties.\nClark was among several Republicans who already were running in hopes of replacing O'Bannon, who under state law cannot seek a third straight term.\nThe others include McIntosh; state Sen. Luke Kenley of Noblesville; conservative activist Eric Miller; and Petersburg Mayor Randy Harris.\nTwo Democrats -- state Sen. Vi Simpson of Ellettsville and former state and national Democratic chairman Joe Andrew -- are seeking their party's nomination.\nAlthough Daniels already is considered by many a front-runner for the GOP nomination, Clark and three others had said recently they did not plan to drop their bids if he got into the race.\nKenley, however, has seemed less adamant about that.\n"Everything is contingent on whether he announces or not," Kenley said in a May 30 interview. "I think Republicans have a problem if we get too much of a loaded primary field, and candidates have a responsibility to think about that."\nMcIntosh campaign spokesman Jason Beal said the former congressman considers Daniels a friend, "But we plan to run a good, clean, issue-oriented campaign and this doesn't alter that course."\nFormer state GOP chairman Mike McDaniel has endorsed Daniels and predicted he would have immediate fund-raising success.\n"I think he has the ability to raise shock-and-awe money, and I think that is a tribute to the fact that people are hungry for leadership, hungry for someone who has big ideas and can move the state forward," McDaniel said.\nMcIntosh and O'Bannon raised and spent more than $20 million combined in the last governor's race.