Banner Graphic, Volume 21, Number 55, Greencastle, Putnam County, 6 November 1990 — Page 3

The big names in Indiana politics hit the last-minute hustings hard

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) Hoosiers went to the polls today to vote in off-year elections after a last-minute campaign blitz with Vice President Dan Quayle and two . generations of Bayhs criss-crossing the state to woo their support. Quayle, the former Indiana senator and congressman, jetted into the state on Air Force Two for a whirlwind tour Monday for Hoosier Republicans including Sen. Dan Coats and GOP secretary of state nominee William H. Hudnut, both on the ballot Tuesday. “THERE IS NO doubt in my mind the answer (of voters) in Indiana tomorrow is going to be another Republican victory,” Quayle told a rally at the Indianapolis airport. Gov. Evan Bayh stumped for Secretary of State Joseph H. Hog;sett, Bayh’s former campaign : manager, while the governor’s ;father, former U.S. Sen. Birch E. ;Bayh, toured the state with : Democratic Senate nominee Baron ZHill. Z “We’ve put everything we’ve ‘.got into the campaigns, and now Zit’s up to the public,” the ' Democratic governor said late I Monday afternoon. I Approximately 2.9 million I Hoosiers are eligible to vote in the Senate, U.S. House, Statehouse, legislative and local races. : EXPERTS PREDICTED a low : turnout characteristic of off-year Selections when there are no races for president or governor. Polls are open from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. local time. The turnout could be affected by the weather. The National Weather Service was calling for cool weather under partly cloudy skies with highs in the mid-40s to lower 50s. The last-ditch flurry of activity came at the end of the most expen-

lUPUI poll shows Hogsett-Hudnut race, Jontz-Johnson race are too close to call

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - ndiana voters may have to stay up late to learn who won the hotly contested races for secretary of state and the sth District congressional seat, according to a lastminute poll. Those contests in today’s election were too close to call, according to an Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis survey released Monday. THE NEW SURVEY of 1,204 Hoosier voters also showed that Republican U.S. Sen. Dan Coals’ lead had narrowed over Democrat Baron Hill although the margin remains substantial. Those results might be outdated, however, because the mood of the electorate is extremely volatile, said Brian Vargus, director of the Public Opinion Laboratory at lUPUI. For example, said Vargus, about 40 percent of the people surveyed in October changed their minds about which candidate to support in tiie secretary of state’s race when the same people were called again for the latest survey taken last Thursday through Saturday. “I HAVE NEVER seen quite that much volatility,” said Vargus. ‘‘lt seems to be changing daily. People were voting on the last commercial they’d seen. “There’s something very unusual going on out there,” he said. “We’re not sure what it means.” In the secretary of state’s race, the new survey showed Republican William H. Hudnut, the mayor of Indianapolis, with a lead of 40 percent to 38.2 percent for Democratic incumbent Joseph H. Hogsett among likely voters. The other 21.8 percent was undecided. THE ADVANTAGE falls within the statewide survey’s 3.1 percent margin of error, making the race impossible to call, said Vargus. In October, the lUPUI survey showed Hogsett with a 44.3 percent to 41.4 percent advantage among likely voters. An even closer race appears to be in the sth District, where twoterm Democratic incumbent Jim Jontz of Brookston faces a stem challenge from Republican John Johnson, a Valparaiso businessman. The poll showed Johnson favored by 34 percent, Jontz by 33 percent with 32 percent undecided. In the October survey, Jontz held a one-point advantage. “I WOULD NOT BE surprised if there is a recount in this district,” said Vargus. “It’s going to be ex-

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VICE PRESIDENT QUAYLE Expects easy Hudnut win sive and, many observers believe, most contentious off-year campaign in the state’s history. SPENDING IN THE secretary of state’s race is expected to exceed $3 million as Hogsett attempts to catch Hudnut, who entered the race in February with a substantial advantage in name recognition. A Hogsett advertising blitz has closed the gap to less than two percentage points, making the race too close to call, according to a poll released Monday by Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis. Quayle said he was optimistic about Hudnut’s chances. “The mayor always wins easily,” he said. “I’m sure he will go to bed knowing that he’s won.” HOGSETT PREDICTED, “It’s going to be a very, very close race. The momentum has definitely shifted in our direction.” The governor got in a last shot at the mayor, who many believe might run against Bayh in 1992. Bayh tried to portray Hudnut as a supporter of tax increases and free

BARON HILL Anti-incumbent feeling

tremely close.” In the Senate race, Coats held a lead of 43.5 percent to 30.3 percent over Hill, a state representative from Seymour, among those likely to vote. In October, Coats’ advantage among likely voters was 55.5 percent to 31 percent. During the earlier survey period, Coats was advertising on television but Hill wasn’t In the most recent survey period, both campaigns were using television advertising, and the two candidates also debated on statewide television. IN OTHER congressional races, incumbents held the advantage. The second closest was in the 4th District where first-term Democrat Jill L. Long was favored by 45 percent to 36 percent for Fort Wayne minister Rick Hawks. The poll showed 3rd District Republican John Hiler and 2nd District Democrat Phil Sharp with substantial margins in races earlier believed to be closer. Hiler held an 18-point lead over Democrat Tim Roemer, and Sharp enjoyed almost a 4-to-l lead over Republican Mike Pence. THE MARGIN OF error in the congressional surveys is plus or minus 9.3 percent Other findings in the survey included: • President Bush’s approval rating among Hoosiers slipped from 63.7 percent in October to 56.5 percent in early November. • Gov. Evan Bayh’s approval rating declined slightly, from 67.7 percent in October to 64.1 percent. • Hoosiers overwhelmingly disapprove of the way Congress is handling its job. Almost 70 percent disapproved in November, com-

CM *

BIRCH BAYH Backing Hill all the way

spending. “I have no doubt if Mr. Hogsett’s opponent prevails, he will increase the pressure for higher taxes and more and more spending in a way that would not be responsible,” Bayh said during a stop in South Bend. QUAYLE AND THE elder Bayh campaigned in the Senate race for a seat both men once held. Bayh was a three-term senator before losing to Quayle in 1980. Tuesday’s election will determine whether Coats or Hill will serve the final two years of the term Quayle won in 1986. Bayh compared this year’s contest with the 1962 campaign when he upset GOP incumbent Homer Capehart. “I think Baron’s going to be the next senator,” Bayh said. “WE’RE GOING THE distance,” Hill said. “I have a great deal of confidence.” But Quayle predicted Coats, a former aide to Quayle, “is going to be elected overwhelmingly.” In the university poll released

pared with 55.7 percent in October. However, the same people largely approved of their individual representatives. In November, 52.1 percent approved of their represen-

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Monday, Coats enjoyed better than a 13-point lead over Hill, a state representative from Seymour. The vice president also campaigned for three Republican congressional candidates in close contests. IN KOKOMO, Quayle stumped for sth District candidate John Johnson, who polls show in a tight race with two-term Democratic incumbent Jim Jontz. He also campaigned in Fort Wayne with Republican nominee Rick Hawks, a slight underdog against first-term Democrat Jill L. Long in the contest for the 4th District seat both Quayle and Coats once held. Quayle also went to South Bend to endorse five-term Republican John Hiler, who traditionally faces tight races in off-year elections. This year, he is facing Democrat Tim Roemer. “MY PARTING WORDS to Jack were, ‘I want to go to bed early knowing that you’ve won,”’ said Quayle. Democrats now have a 7-3 edge in the state’s delegation to the U.S. House. Voters will also pick 100 state representatives and 25 state senators on Tuesday in an election that will determine which party controls the Legislature during the important redrawing of legislative and congressional district lines in 1991. Republicans enter the election with a 51-49 advantage in the House and a 26-24 lead in the Senate. Hoosiers will also vote in a number of local races for offices such as county judge, prosecutor, auditor and clerk. At the state level, voters will also select Indiana’s auditor, treasurer and clerk of the state courts for the next four years.

tative’s job performance; in October, the figure was 58.2 percent. • Voter turnout could be higher than originally expected, reaching as high as 62 percent.

Some governors’ races are close to dead even

WASHINGTON (AP) Races for governor in some of the nation’s biggest states were close to dead even as voters went to the polls today at the end of campaigns in which taxes were often a big issue. On the tax question, the issue often was whether candidates would raise them. But in one case, the question was why a candidate didn’t pay them. REPUBLICANS held heightened hopes in California, where former President Reagan campaigned Monday to send Sen. Pete Wilson to the governor’s office that Reagan occupied for eight years in Sacramento. “I am feeling stronger about California every day,” said Michele Davis, director of the Republican Governors’ Association. “Pete clearly has got the momentum on his side.” Wilson said during the campaign that he was opposed to any income tax increase and that the sales tax might be a more fair way to raise money for health programs he proposed.

HIS DEMOCRATIC opponent, former San Francisco Mayor Dianne Feinstein, said she would be willing to raise taxes on upper-income earners. Whether to raise taxes also was an issue in hard-fought races in Illinois, Kansas, Nebraska, Massachusetts, Oregon, Alabama and Maine. In Texas, Democrat Ann Richards wound up a tumultuous campaign pummeling Republican oil millionaire Clayton Williams for failing to pay income taxes in 1986. Williams, joined by President Bush as Election Day neared, said he paid no income taxes because he lost money when oil prices tumbled. THE RICHARDS campaign handed out buttons reading “I paid my taxes in ’86!” and the candidate herself took to calling Williams “Mucho Dinero.” Mark Gearan, director of the Democratic Governors’ Association, said the incident “has really given (Richards) a final burst of momentum that a close race needs.” His Republican counterpart,

November 6,1990 THE BANNERGRAPHIC

Ms. Davis, said GOP polling showed Williams holding a narrow lead and she did not think the tax incident would erase it. THE HOUSTON firm of Tarrance & Associates said after a telephone survey of 1,000 registered voters Sunday night that the race was too close to call. Ms. Davis said Republicans, who now have governors in 21 of the 50 states, might suffer a net loss of one. But she expected the GOP to win California, Texas, Illinois and Ohio, all big states crucial to congressional reapportionment in the wake of the 1990 census. Democrats have predicted they will add at least one state to their present 29. There gre 36 statehouses at issue and at least a third of them were in doubt heading into today’s election. IN FLORIDA, where former Democratic Sen. Lawton Chiles held a narrow edge in the polls, Gov. Bob Martinez predicted Monday that he would be the first Republican governor ever re-elected in the state.

In Illinois, where four-term GOP Gov. Jim Thompson is stepping down, Democratic Attorney General Neil Haitigan attacked Republican Secretary of State Jim Edgar as a tax-promot-ing liberal. Hartigan opposed making a two-year, 20 percent income tax increase permanent; Edgar favored it. In Oregon, by contrast, Republican Attorney General Dave Frohnmayer assailed Democratic Secretary of State Barbara Roberts as a tax-and-spend liberal. The race went down to the wire. REPBLICAN Govs. Mike Hayden of Kansas and Kay Orr of neighboring Nebraska both found themselves the objects of tax revolts. Hayden was in a tight contest with Democratic state Treasurer Joan Finney and Mrs. Orr was battling wealthy businessman Ben Nelson. In Maine, Republican Gov. John R. McKeman has pulled ahead in some polls after a campaign in which his Democratic challenger, Rep. Joseph Brennan, attacked the governor’s deficit-reduction program.