Congressman Joe Donnelly (D-northwest Indiana) Candidate for US Senate

DL21C’s 2012 Candidate Series continues with
Congressman Joe Donnelly (D-northwest Indiana)
Candidate for US Senate
 
This Monday night, September 24, DL21C and New Yorkers across the city welcome Congressman Joe Donnelly, running for the US Senate seat in Indiana – just this week ranked by The Cook Political Report as a toss-up, and is now one of the two most competitive Senate races in the nation.
Earlier this year, Tea Party conservative Richard Mourdock shocked the political establishment by defeating six-term moderate Senator Dick Lugar in Indiana’s Republican Primary, funded in large part by the Koch brothers, special interests, and extremist SuperPACs.  Joe is a moderate, Blue Dog Democrat who currently represents a northern Indiana manufacturing – centered district and has focused his campaign almost singularly on improving the economic fortunes of Hoosiers and bringing both parties together. His work to bring jobs back to Indiana is resonating with voters, who are increasingly rejecting the extremist views of his Tea Party-backed opponent. 
Join us Monday night, along with fellow Democrats across the city, plus special guests!, for cocktails and discussion – and meet a candidate (born in NYC!) running in one of the most hotly-contested Senate races this election cycle.
See you Monday night….and then on to DL21C’s Debate Watches, beginning October 3!
Free for Annual Members; $5/everyone else
To learn more about Joe’s campaign and Joe’s Jobs Plan, visit: www.joeforindiana.com
Read the national take on the race:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390443995604578004301678263768.html
http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/senate-races/249845-donnelly-poll-pu...
And a local paper’s take on the race here: 
http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20120909/NEWS02/309090067/Key-Indiana-Senate-race-may-nail-biter
 
About Joe Donnelly
Joe Donnelly is the U.S. Representative for Indiana's 2nd congressional district, serving since 2007.   Donnelly was born in Flushing, New York, and worked as a lawyer before opening up a print and rubber stamp business. He served on the Indiana State Election Board from 1988-1989, then on the school board for Marian High School from 1997-2001 and as president during the 2000-2001 term. In 2006, Joe was elected to U.S. Congress where he is currently serving his third term, where he is a member of the Blue Dog Coalition which promotes a moderate agenda focused on fiscal discipline and strong national security. Joe serves on two committees that help meet the diverse needs of north central Indiana: Financial Services and Veterans’ Affairs. 
Joe is a graduate of Notre Dame and Notre Dame Law School.  He met his wife, Jill, while in college in South Bend. They got married in 1979 and raised their two children, Molly and Joe Jr., in northern Indiana, in the home that Jill’s father helped build almost thirty years ago.
About the Race
Democrat Joe Donnelly is facing Tea Party Candidate Richard Mourdock in a toss-up race for Indiana’s U.S. Senate seat. Richard Mourdock beat moderate, long-term U.S. Senator Richard Lugar in the Republican primary on May 8th. Despite efforts to redefine himself as mainstream—by wiping clean his website and appearing with Republican Party leaders in Indiana, Mourdock’s extreme positions remain. He has questioned the constitutionality of Social Security and Medicare, disowned the ethanol industry so important to Indiana’s economy, and remains a loyal member of the increasingly unpopular Tea Party base.
Just how conservative is Mourdock? Here are the top five campaign priorities as listed on his website:
1. Eliminate Wasteful Spending
2. Repeal Obamacare
3. Secure our Borders
4. Protect Life
5. Stop Liberal Judges
Two recent polls show that after a summer of television ad wars, this race remains a dead heat, with Donnelly surging ahead in recent days. Voters continue to reject Mourdock's extreme, Tea Party ideas and are responding to Joe's common-sense message of working with anyone and everyone to get things done for middle class families.