GOP challenge to Knuth candidacy tossed

“I know it’s going to depress Mr. Shine that they are going to have to win the race in the ballot box rather than on a technicality” - Kevin Knuth

The Allen County Election Board speedily dismissed ACRP Chair Steve Shine’s challenge of rival Democrat Kevin Knuth’s candidacy for the Allen County Council. Speedily, as in within hours of Shines filing on Monday morning.

Shine claimed that Knuth’s appointment "wasn’t valid because of missing paperwork in the filing as it didn’t include a copy of an authorization form granting Democratic Chairman Mike Bynum the authority to fill ballot vacancies":

State law allows party caucuses to fill ballot vacancies if nobody files for an office, or the party precinct officials can grant that authority to the chairman so a caucus is not necessary. The deadline to fill vacancies was last week. Knuth’s filing for one of the party’s council vacancies did not include a copy of that authorization.

Shine said this means either Bynum was never given authorization or the paperwork was filed incorrectly, but the election board disagreed.

Though the form says a copy must be attached to each filing, the election board’s past practice has allowed chairs to file one omnibus letter to cover all filings in a year, according to Andy Downs, Democratic board member. Downs said Monday afternoon the letter was properly filed for Bynum and the board will not meet to discuss Shine’s complaint. Instead, it will send a letter to Shine explaining the situation.

Perhaps Shine, pictured here after his disappointment, should pay more attention to his daily regimen than to the affairs of those who continually best him. . .

Supreme Court Reprimands Steve Shine

Local Republican chairman Steve Shine was in the news today as the JG reports that the state Supreme Court has issued him a reprimand for the way his wife handled funds at his law firm.

The Indiana Supreme Court issued a private reprimand to local attorney Steve Shine for misconduct related to financial oversight at his law firm.

The reprimand was issued because for five months beginning in May 2005, Beth Shine, Steve Shine’s wife, wrote approximately 11 checks to herself or to accounts to which she had access from the law firm’s trust account, according to the court documents. This amounted to misappropriating $22,257 in client money without the knowledge of anyone at the firm, Shine & Hardin

However, the paper reports that all the money was paid back in late 2005...

Steve Shine's Letter to Matt Kelty Rejecting the Negative AFA Ad

I've obtained a copy of the letter Republican Chairman Steve Shine sent to Matt Kelty about the AFA ad. The images of the two page letter are shown below or you can view the PDF here

Steve Shine Rejects AFA's Negative Ad

Update: The full text of Shine's letter will be up shortly

Republican County chairman Steve Shine has rejected the negative ad put out by the American Family Association.

Shine sent a two-page letter to Kelty outlining his concerns with the ad. In it, he wrote that the advertisement does not create a perception of the open and inclusive Republican Party he is trying to promote.

While he said he has valued the group’s support of candidates in the past, he fears the radio ad – played on a local Christian station – conveys that Republicans shun people who differ from them in certain ways.

“As someone whose roots come from a class of people once persecuted for its religious beliefs, it pains me to hear even a hint of intolerance associated with a candidate of an organization I chair,” said Shine, who is Jewish. “I will not accept intolerance, real or perceived.”

Kelty said he understands Shine is concerned with the advertisement but said he has not listened to it and knows nothing about it.

Kudos to Steve Shine for doing the right thing and condemning this ad. In a previous conversation I had with Shine, he stressed the fact that he is and always has been committed to making the local Republican party one of inclusion. Speaking out against this ad once again demonstrates his sincerity on that issue.

And just in case Matt Kelty still hasn't heard the ad I went ahead and e-mailed it him. Take a listen Matt and tell us what you think...

Democrats for Kelty?

After yesterday's Republicans for Henry rally Matt Kelty made the following comment:

"This is politics, if I wanted to make a big deal out of all the Democrats that we have supporting me, I could have had a rally four times that size, but that's not the point," says Kelty.

This strikes me as an extremely childish statement. It's like a schoolyard kid losing a footrace and then saying "Well I could've ran 4 times as fast as you if I really wanted to." The point is that if Kelty had prominent Democrats publicly breaking away from the party to support him then he would exploit it - that's good politics. The truth is he doesn't. But I suppose this is just a small drop in the bucket that's full of Kelty exaggerations and half-truths.

Republican chairman Steve Shine added the following:

It is the people who are not coming out and showing (sic) boating and that aren't being absorbed in the campaign circus, if you will, that we're counting on to support Matt Kelty.

So you're counting on the silent, non-energized citizenry? Good luck with that...

UPDATE: When I wrote this I hadn't seen a similar post over at Blue Indiana. Thomas, as usual, is right on the money and it's worth a read...

Republican Chairman Eliminates Executive Committee Due to Kelty Infighting

The JG is reporting that Steve Shine has dissolved the Republican Party's executive committee:

Allen County Republican Chairman Steve Shine on Thursday dissolved the party’s executive committee, the day its president resigned because of concerns about Matt Kelty’s mayoral candidacy.

Shine said he would announce the committee’s elimination to county precinct officials Thursday evening. The group of about 200 precinct officials were scheduled to meet to discuss Kelty’s legal problems.

Shine said he decided to eliminate the group because its members were using it as a forum to get publicity for party infighting.

“The committee has become a public platform for people on both sides of this matter,” he said. “Regrettably, it has become a vehicle for discord rather than one for accord.”

Shine’s announcement comes just hours after Ken Neumeister, the president of the committee and an influential GOP fundraiser, resigned because of his unhappiness with the party’s support for Kelty.

Of course this was probably just a preemptive strike by Shine because Mike Sylvester reported that a 2nd person resigned from the board and that more were likely to follow...

Kelty Indictments Continue to Tear the Republican Party Apart

Kevin Leininger of the News-Sentinel brings us an insider's report of disagreement and anger within the Republican Party's executive committee over Matt Kelty's candidacy:

At a meeting of the party’s executive committee Monday, several members expressed concerns that support for Kelty, indicted last week on nine counts of perjury and campaign-finance violations, may make it more difficult to elect other Republicans in the Nov. 6 election.

“I told them the party has got to stand for certain principles, including honesty and integrity,” said John McGauley, who was elected Allen County recorder last year. “But Kelty lied to us, he lied to the public and, apparently, he lied to the grand jury. We can run against (Democratic mayoral candidate) Tom Henry again in four years, but we can’t if we give up the core things we stand for.

“Would we do that if we support Kelty? Yes.”

Ouch. Those are extremely harsh words from an elected official of the Republican party. But it didn't stop there - looks like Chairman Steve Shine is a little irritated that McGauley is talking about discussions from the executive committee:

Other members of the 15-member committee said they believe the party should remain loyal to Kelty, but did not want to be identified.

That’s because what happens in executive committee meetings is supposed to remain confidential, Shine said.

“Anyone who said anything (about what happened in the meeting) should be man or woman enough to resign,” Shine said. “It’s a complete betrayal, as serious as the (Kelty) issues they’re speaking about. Shame on them.”

“I said what I said,” McGauley responded. “I’m free to state my own opinion. I’m not violating anyone’s confidence but my own.”

I think Steve Shine is all-in on this one and his position as chairman is likely in serious jeopardy if Kelty goes down in flames. McGauley wasn't the only Republican insider to voice his concern:

"There’s nothing (the committee) can do about Kelty running or not running,” said committee member Bill Bean, a local developer. “Our purpose was to discuss the effect this might have on other races. My biggest concern is political apathy, that people will just stay home.”

Great reporting by Leininger. And for those of you that continue to claim the Democratic party is the reason for Kelty's woes - well, read this story. The party is fractured and it will be interesting to see if Shine can keep it together until election night...

C'mon Steve

In Sunday's JG, Steve Shine unfairly bashed the Democratic Party:

Steve Shine, chairman of the Allen County Republican Party, said he wouldn’t be surprised if Democrats try to take advantage of the situation.

“The mode of operation of the Democrats of almost every campaign is attacking the person instead of addressing the issues,” Shine said.

Every campaign? How about naming just one?

And let's not forget that the Democratic party is not attacking Matt Kelty - Steve should chastise his own party for that. Having said that, an investigation into whether or not a candidate committed perjury by giving knowingly false testimony to a grand jury is an issue that's germane to any campaign - and Steve Shine knows that...

Steve Shine Makes Baseless Accusation

Common Cause is filing a complaint with the county prosecutor in regards to Matt Kelty's campaign loans. To avoid any conflict of interest Election Board member Andy Downs, who is also a board member on Common Cause, decided to resign from the Common Cause board once he was informed of the complaint. Downs and Common Cause have both said that he did not initiate the complaint. But this certainly didn't stop Steve Shine from making accusations:

“He’s trying to get a second bite of the apple and is engaging in a conflict of interest,” Shine said.

Steve, everyone involved said that Downs didn't initiate the complaint - is everyone lying? Also, he resigned, so where is the conflict of interest? Did you and Kelty really believe that there wasn't going to be a complaint filed? And why would it have mattered if Downs did file the complaint - he has the same rights any other citizen does.

I don't believe for a second that Shine or Kelty thought that Tuesday's Election Board whitewash was going to be the end of the matter. They're now simply trying to pin the blame on the local Democratic party for something their own party initiated.

The worse part is that Shine has absolutely no basis for smearing Downs as a liar. I certainly didn't call him and the Republicans on the Election Board liars when they said there was no collusion before the hearing. If anyone is going to levy accusations of impropriety, it certainly shouldn't be the chair of the Allen County Republican Party...

The REAL Reason the Kelty Loan Issue Is Surfacing Now

It's fairly unusual for a political party to throw its own nominee to the wolves, but that appears to be what is happening here. Matt Kelty has already admitted that it was people within the Republican party that wanted him to clarify the source of the loans. The problem I have with all this is why wasn't it done before the primary election? These loans came about in 2006 and there have been rumblings around town about them for months - so why now? Allen County Republican chair Steve Shine answered that question in today's JG:

Shine said it wasn’t the party’s role to question legitimate candidates about their campaigns during a primary because it could be construed as the party taking a side in the race.

Give me a break. Is he insinuating that the party didn't take Peters' side in the primary? I don't think there's a single voter that believes that. Regardless, why wouldn't the party provide guidance to ALL their candidates so everything is above board? I'll tell you why they didn't, because they've had SO MANY ethical lapses lately that they simply hoped that Nelson Peters would win and the issue would go away.

Only now, after an unwanted Kelty victory, are they coming out to "help" Kelty make sure everything he does is transparent. What's really transparent is that some within the Republican party are attempting to sell Matt Kelty down the river. If they can stir up enough controversy then perhaps they can get him to step down before the July 15 deadline required by election law (IC 3-8-7-28). If so, then a caucus of precinct committeemen get to fill the vacancy - who do you think they would pick?

In my opinion it's quite unprecedented for members of a political party to try and sabotage their own nominee's campaign. I guess they can't get over the fact that voters in this community wanted the party to go in a different direction. Matt Kelty should accept the will of the voters and reject these underhanded attempts by those in his own party hoping to force his withdrawal...

Steve Shine Should Step Down as GOP Chair

The Allen County Republican party has had it's share of ethical lapses (see here, here and here). Perhaps it's debatable about whether these problems were caused by a failure of leadership or not. However, after yesterday's election what is certainly not debatable is that Steve Shine no longer represents the voters of his party.

Personally, I don't think either party should endorse candidates in the primary. The idea of party-building is to promote all your candidates and let the membership decide who they want to represent the party. But if you do go out on a limb and support a primary candidate, then you had better be damn sure they will win because a loss completely undermines your presence within the party.

Shine lined up nearly every county-wide elected official to support Peters. He got Congressman Mark Souder to endorse him. He also had state-wide officials holding fundraisers and supporting him - in essence, he bet the farm...and lost.

In yesterday's vote the party membership not only rejected Nelson Peters but also Shine's leadership. They refused to follow his lead and with their votes they let him know they wanted the party to move in a new direction. He can no longer claim to be an effective leader within his own party.

Steve Shine should accept the will of the voters and resign...