A little bit of good news about yesterday
Errington wins Democratic Senate nomination
The former Delaware County Council member hopes to succeed fellow Democrat Allie Craycraft in the Senate.
By RICK YENCER
ryencer@thestarpress.com
MUNCIE -- Sue Errington celebrated victory Tuesday at Democratic Party headquarters, pointing to a cross section of people who helped her win the Democratic nomination to the Senate District 26 seat.
"In the end, it came down to going door to door and meeting with people on doorsteps," said Errington, who easily defeated Democratic challengers Steve Graves and Lewis Coulter.
Errington, 64, a retired Planned Parenthood executive, will face Republican candidate Andrew Phipps, 63, a retired teacher, in the Nov. 7 general election. Phipps lost to Sen. Allie Craycraft, D-Selma, by 609 votes in the 2002 race.
Phipps, who watched results with fellow Republicans at the downtown Roberts Hotel, said the contest would be more than a debate between pro-life and pro-choice issues.
"It is going to be about jobs, education and reorganization of state government," Phipps said.
Errington, who spent the day in Precinct 22 at Grissom Elementary School, was handing out "Sue for Senate" cards. Supporters of Graves and Coulter handed out candy. That south Muncie precinct is heavily Democratic and gave Craycraft easy victories in recent elections.
"We went to about every town in the district," said Errington, who gave her victory speech at party headquarters about 10 p.m.
Along with having people from all walks of life support her, Errington said credited the victory to a good message of affordable health care, education and bringing good-paying jobs to the community.
In Delaware County, Errington took 4,506 votes, compared to Graves with 3,418 and Coulter with 3,044. Vote totals were not immediately available from Van Buren Township in northeastern Madison County.
Party support for Errington was obvious Tuesday night because she was the only Democratic senate candidate at party headquarters. And Errington also took the largest margin of absentee ballots with 682, compared to Graves with 462 and 312 for Coulter. Absentee ballots are generally collected by party regulars and loyalists.
Craycraft, also Democratic Party vice chairman, said Errington was the first Democratic candidate to enter the race and also gathered precinct committeeman support early before Graves and Coulter entered the race.
"I found out over the years, if you get the precinct committeemen committed early, they will stay with you," said Craycraft, who remained neutral in the primary.
Errington's campaign manager was political veteran Victoria Rose, a former party vice chairman and longtime party worker.
Coulter, a restaurant and bar owner, acknowledged he lost big and attributed party support to Errington's victory.
He and about 50 followers watched election returns at Slater Hawkins, one of Coulter's restaurants, and he made the rounds at over 20 precincts on Tuesday, mainly in south Muncie, Yorktown and other predominately Democratic precincts.
After Tuesday's last place finish, Coulter said he was finished with politics after making earlier unsuccessful runs at mayor and county commissioner.
Graves, executive director of the Indiana Fireworks Association, worked Precinct 13 at Southview Elementary School while his parents and wife worked other predominately Democratic south Muncie precincts.
He did not return telephone calls late Tuesday, although his father, Bobby Graves, said he presumed that Errington won because she was "one woman running against two men."
Steve Graves was critical of Errington and Coulter this week, calling them "ignorant and closed-minded" for criticizing a national group supporting school choice for investing in Graves campaign. Former Republican Lt. Gov. John Mutz is chair of the group.
Craycraft said those remarks certainly did not help Graves's campaign. He expected a good race between Erington and Phipps, as did former State Rep. Bruce Munson, who Errington, a former Delaware County Council member, unsuccessfully challenged for the House District 35 seat in 1996.
The former Delaware County Council member hopes to succeed fellow Democrat Allie Craycraft in the Senate.
By RICK YENCER
ryencer@thestarpress.com
MUNCIE -- Sue Errington celebrated victory Tuesday at Democratic Party headquarters, pointing to a cross section of people who helped her win the Democratic nomination to the Senate District 26 seat.
"In the end, it came down to going door to door and meeting with people on doorsteps," said Errington, who easily defeated Democratic challengers Steve Graves and Lewis Coulter.
Errington, 64, a retired Planned Parenthood executive, will face Republican candidate Andrew Phipps, 63, a retired teacher, in the Nov. 7 general election. Phipps lost to Sen. Allie Craycraft, D-Selma, by 609 votes in the 2002 race.
Phipps, who watched results with fellow Republicans at the downtown Roberts Hotel, said the contest would be more than a debate between pro-life and pro-choice issues.
"It is going to be about jobs, education and reorganization of state government," Phipps said.
Errington, who spent the day in Precinct 22 at Grissom Elementary School, was handing out "Sue for Senate" cards. Supporters of Graves and Coulter handed out candy. That south Muncie precinct is heavily Democratic and gave Craycraft easy victories in recent elections.
"We went to about every town in the district," said Errington, who gave her victory speech at party headquarters about 10 p.m.
Along with having people from all walks of life support her, Errington said credited the victory to a good message of affordable health care, education and bringing good-paying jobs to the community.
In Delaware County, Errington took 4,506 votes, compared to Graves with 3,418 and Coulter with 3,044. Vote totals were not immediately available from Van Buren Township in northeastern Madison County.
Party support for Errington was obvious Tuesday night because she was the only Democratic senate candidate at party headquarters. And Errington also took the largest margin of absentee ballots with 682, compared to Graves with 462 and 312 for Coulter. Absentee ballots are generally collected by party regulars and loyalists.
Craycraft, also Democratic Party vice chairman, said Errington was the first Democratic candidate to enter the race and also gathered precinct committeeman support early before Graves and Coulter entered the race.
"I found out over the years, if you get the precinct committeemen committed early, they will stay with you," said Craycraft, who remained neutral in the primary.
Errington's campaign manager was political veteran Victoria Rose, a former party vice chairman and longtime party worker.
Coulter, a restaurant and bar owner, acknowledged he lost big and attributed party support to Errington's victory.
He and about 50 followers watched election returns at Slater Hawkins, one of Coulter's restaurants, and he made the rounds at over 20 precincts on Tuesday, mainly in south Muncie, Yorktown and other predominately Democratic precincts.
After Tuesday's last place finish, Coulter said he was finished with politics after making earlier unsuccessful runs at mayor and county commissioner.
Graves, executive director of the Indiana Fireworks Association, worked Precinct 13 at Southview Elementary School while his parents and wife worked other predominately Democratic south Muncie precincts.
He did not return telephone calls late Tuesday, although his father, Bobby Graves, said he presumed that Errington won because she was "one woman running against two men."
Steve Graves was critical of Errington and Coulter this week, calling them "ignorant and closed-minded" for criticizing a national group supporting school choice for investing in Graves campaign. Former Republican Lt. Gov. John Mutz is chair of the group.
Craycraft said those remarks certainly did not help Graves's campaign. He expected a good race between Erington and Phipps, as did former State Rep. Bruce Munson, who Errington, a former Delaware County Council member, unsuccessfully challenged for the House District 35 seat in 1996.