4th District hopeful announces candidacy

Republican Dennis Hardy is getting a head start on his bid to upset incumbent House Representative Steve Buyer in the primary elections for Indiana's densely populated 4th District, which encompasses Bloomington and regions of Indianapolis.\nAlthough the primaries will not be held until May 4, Hardy will be announcing his candidacy with a three-day press tour during which he will visit the 12 counties he hopes to represent. The tour includes a stop at 2 p.m. today at the Herald-Times office in Bloomington.\nHardy began the tour with a speech in his hometown of Monticello Tuesday, and will conclude today with a stop at the Times-Mail in Bedford. Each appearance features a formal announcement of the candidacy, followed by a prepared statement about Hardy's campaign goals and questions from local reporters. \n"I encourage voters if they want to come out … that's why we're there," Hardy said.\nImmediately after the three-day announcement tour, Hardy will begin traveling through south central Indiana, making appearances at fairs and festivals in each county. \n"We're basically going to live on the road for the next eight months," Hardy said. "As each of these counties have festivals, parades, we're trying to meet as many people as we can."\nHardy's campaign manager, David Lohr, will be traveling with Hardy until election day. For Lohr, being on the road brings back memories of his own campaigns, including one for state representative in 1994.\n"I didn't think I'd be doing this again, and probably for anyone else I wouldn't be," he joked.\nHardy is the first Republican to announce his candidacy for the 4th District House seat. According to Lohr, Buyer has not yet formally announced that he will be running for office again. Congressman Buyer was unavailable for comment on the upcoming campaign.\nGerald Wright, Indiana state politics professor at IU, said that recent redistricting in Indiana might play a role in Hardy's viability as a candidate.\n"[The Democrats recently] gerrymandered the 4th District to be more Republican thereby making the districts around it more competitive [for Democratic candidates]" Wright said. \nGerrymandering is a common practice used by political parties in which a state's district boundaries are redrawn to improve that party's chances in future elections.\n"Buyer's not really well established in the 4th District -- it doesn't overlap very well with the district he had before," Wright said. "The odds of knocking [an incumbent] off are not real high, but there are surprises in every election," he added.\nHardy said that he would take every advantage to inform voters of his platform, which includes homeland defense, integrity, and serving the constituents. Lohr also said that Hardy was interested in setting up debates with Buyer in each county.\n-- Contact staff writer Elise Baker at elimbake@indiana.edu.