Dave Stafford for www.theindianalawyer.com

Marion County Superior judge elections ruled unconstitutional this month should not proceed Nov. 4 as the current ballot is drawn, according to court pleadings from candidates who were left out of the general election.

“We’re going to keep pressing,” said Greg Bowes, who along with fellow Democrat Christopher K. Starkey has asked Chief Judge Richard Young of the Southern District of Indiana for a preliminary injunctionordering their names be placed on the ballot in light of Young’s ruling Oct. 9 in Common Cause v. Indiana Secretary of State, et al., 1:12-CV-1603. Young has not yet ruled on the injunction request.

“This is a really serious right we’re trying to vindicate here,” said Bowes, a private practitioner and former Marion County assessor and city-county councilman. “We’re pressing as hard as we can as soon as we can before this election happens.”

Bowes, Starkey and David R. Hennessy were candidates for Marion Superior judge in May’s Democratic primary but were not among the top-eight vote recipients. Because the election statute limits general election ballot access to eight Democrats and eight Republicans for 16 judgeships evenly divided among parties, the three aren’t on the ballot. Bowes and Starkey, representing themselves, argue the three should be, and that Young’s ruling bolsters the federal suit they filed in August seeking ballot access.

While Young declared the Marion Superior judicial election scheme unconstitutional, he stayed the order until after the matter is ruled on by the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, so the ruling doesn’t affect the Nov. 4 race. Young ruled the judicial election statute doesn’t provide voters a meaningful choice in the general election.

Bowes argues that staying the ruling also will violate his First Amendment rights, because each party should be allowed to nominate a candidate for each contested judgeship under Young’s ruling. Bowes argues that if injunctive relief isn’t issued, the Nov. 4 vote should be invalidated and a special election conducted.

“How can you have an election under an unconstitutional statute?” Bowes said.

The motion for injunction asserts that based on Marion County voting patterns, 11 Democratic candidates likely would win more votes than the eight Republican candidates, if Bowes, Hennessy and Starkey were placed on the ballot. Therefore, if additional candidates aren’t on the ballot, U.S. Supreme Court precedent suggests relief is warranted, Bowes said.

“If these 16 judges get elected under a law that’s unconstitutional,” he said, “any of those judges would have a constitutional challenge to any action they take” basing the assertion on Clark v. Roemer, 500 U.S. 646, 654 (U.S. 1991).

Bowes acknowledged the injunction request may be a long shot with now less than two weeks before the election, but he said it was important for candidates left off the general election ballot to preserve their rights in light of Young’s ruling and reassert claims for ballot access.

State defendants have not yet formally responded to the injunction request. The case is Gregory Bowes and Christopher K. Starkey v. Indiana Secretary of State, et al., 1:14-CV-1322.

By Lesley Weidenbener

By Lesley Weidenbener
TheStatehouseFile.com

INDIANAPOLIS – Adjutant General Martin Umbarger will retire in May after 45 years of service with the Indiana National Guard.

“There comes a time in everyone’s life and career to pass the ‘colors of leadership’ onto the next generation,” Umbarger said in a public letter to soldiers and others. “This is not a sad day but a very happy day as I reflect on the honor of serving with the best men and women of our nation.”

Umbarger began his career as an enlisted soldier in the Indiana Army National Guard in 1969 and moved up over the years until former Democratic Gov. Joe Kernan appointed him to the state’s top post in 2004.

Republican Govs. Mitch Daniels and Mike Pence then reappointed him to the job, in which he oversees the Indiana Army and Air National Guard, the Indiana Guard Reserve and state employees all totaling more than 15,800 personnel.

On Tuesday, Pence called Umbarger “a patriot and true public servant to the people of Indiana.”

“His leadership and insight have been invaluable to the guard, our state, and this great nation,” Pence said. “And I believe him to be a Hoosier hero in every sense of the word.”

In his role, Umbarger has overseen the development of state-owned land in Jennings County into the Muscatatuck Urban Training Center, which is used by law enforcement and military units from across the country. He’s has won a number of awards, currently serves on the Secretary of Defense’s Reserve Forces Policy Board and previously served as a member of the Secretary of the Army’s Reserve Forces Policy Committee.

Pence said he planned to work with Umbarger to “transition to new leadership of our Indiana National Guard,” which is the fourth largest in the nation.

As a civilian, Umbarger is president of Roy Umbarger & Sons in Bargersville, a fourth generation family-owned and operated business that develops feed for show animals.

The Indiana National Guard also announced that retired Col. David Shorter will leave his post as director of state operations. He will retire next month 14 years of state service and approximately 30 years of military service.

“I am much honored to have served this great organization for more than 43 years, as both a soldier and state employee,” Shorter said in a statement. “The relationships I’ve forged over the years mean a great deal to me and will forever be with me.”