Democratic ex-congresswoman enters governor’s race against Daniels

SOUTH BEND – Former U.S. Rep. Jill Long Thompson formally announced Tuesday that she will run for governor, joining two other Democrats seeking the party's nomination for a likely matchup with Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels.\nLong Thompson, who served three terms as congresswoman from the Fort Wayne area during 1989-95, said that if elected she would consider the state's options on every privatization contract signed by Daniels, including the Indiana Toll Road lease.\n"Something I learned in business school and growing up on a farm is there is a difference between spending money and investing, and investing wisely," she said.\nLong Thompson said she believes if Daniels is elected to another four-year term he will privatize even more government services.\nLong Thompson joins State Senate Minority Leader Richard Young of Milltown and Jim Schellinger, president of an Indianapolis architecture firm and a longtime Democratic activist, in seeking their party's nomination. Daniels announced last month that he was running for a second term, and he is not expected to face a GOP challenge.\nLong Thompson spoke for about 15 minutes, focusing primarily on highlighting the differences between her and Daniels. She said she would provide leadership on the issue of tax fairness, specifically property taxes.\n"I will provide the leadership to take a look at our overall tax structure that frankly was created for an economy of the 19th century, not for the 21st century," she said. "We need to ensure tax fairness and we need to be looking and considering all of our tax laws."\nDaniels on Monday hinted at the possibility of a special legislative session on property tax relief.\nLong Thompson said she also would consider seeking to move the entire state to the Central time zone. "It's pretty ridiculous when it's still daylight to almost midnight," she said.\nRobert Vane, a spokesman for the Indiana Republican Party, said Long Thompson offered "empty rhetoric" and no new ideas.\n"It's obvious that she has spent too much time in Washington, D.C., and has missed all the tremendous progress Indiana has made because of Gov. Daniels' leadership," he said.\nLong Thompson made her announcement at the St. Joseph County-City Building in South Bend before a small group of supporters. She also stopped in Fort Wayne and at the Statehouse in Indianapolis, and planned to travel to Evansville and Terre Haute on Wednesday.\nState Democratic Party Chairman Dan Parker has said the party is taking a neutral position among the Democratic candidates, but hopes Democrats coalesce around one so a primary campaign can be avoided.\nMany Democrats and political observers view Schellinger as the early favorite. He is a fresh face – having never run for office before – and is an experienced fundraiser. He recently announced that he had raised more than $1 million since getting into the race in March.\nHe is backed by some top Democrats, including Indianapolis Mayor Bart Peterson, U.S. Rep. Julia Carson and former Indiana House Speaker John Gregg.\nYoung said he had raised about $60,000 to $70,000 so far, but had just begun to focus more on that. Daniels began the year with $2.6 million in campaign cash, and has raised more than $700,000 so far this year.\nLong Thompson said she began raising money last week. She would not say how much she has raised, but called it "respectable." She said she expects it will cost $20 million to run in the general election.