Richard Mourdock
Richard Mourdock (b. October 8, 1951 in Wauseon, Ohio) is the former Republican State Treasurer in Indiana. He resigned from office on August 29, 2014 to pursue other opportunities. He was ineligible to run for re-election in 2014 due to term limits.[1]
Mourdock was a 2012 Republican candidate for election to the U.S. Senate from Indiana. He defeated incumbent Richard Lugar in the May 8, 2012, Republican primary and lost to Joe Donnelly (D) on November 6, 2012.[2][3]
Biography
Mourdock first took office as Indiana State Treasurer in February 2007. Prior to his election to the office, Mourdock served two terms as Commissioner of Vanderburgh County.[4] He was a candidate for Indiana Secretary of State in 2002 and U.S. Congress in 1990, 1992 and 2012.
Mourdock has served in a number of roles in his professional career, beginning as a field geologist for the AMAX Coal Company from 1975-1979. He went on to be a senior geologist for the Standard Oil Company from 1979-1984, and executive for Koester Companies, Inc. from 1984-2000. He has served as principal of R.E. Mourdock and Associates, Limited Liability Company since 2001.[5]
Education
Political career
Indiana Treasurer (2007-2014)
Mourdock was first elected as state treasurer in 2006. He served in the position until his resignation on August 29, 2014.[1]
Elections
2012
Mourdock ran in the 2012 election for the U.S. Senate, representing Indiana. Mourdock won nomination on the Republican ticket, defeating incumbent Richard Lugar in the May 8 primary.[2] [7] He was then defeated by Joe Donnelly (D) in the general election.
According to the website Daily Kos, this race was one of nine top-ballot 2012 races that contained Libertarian candidates who received more total votes than was the difference between the Democratic winner and the GOP runner-up. In this case, Andy Horning took in over 4,800 more votes than the number that separated Donnelly and Mourdock.[8]
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic |  Joe Donnelly |
50% | 1,281,181 | |
| Republican | Richard Mourdock | 44.3% | 1,133,621 | |
| Libertarian | Andy Horning | 5.7% | 145,282 | |
| Independent | James Johnson, Jr. | 0% | 15 | |
| Independent | Amy Willis | 0% | 3 | |
| Total Votes | 2,560,102 | |||
| Source: Indiana Secretary of State "United States Senate Election Results" | ||||
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
|---|---|---|
|
Richard Mourdock |
60.5% | 400,321 |
| Richard Lugar Incumbent | 39.5% | 261,285 |
| Total Votes | 661,606 | |
The two candidates ran a close race, despite the fact that Indiana is seen as a Republican-leaning state. After the conservative Mourdock replaced the moderate Lugar as the Republican candidate, Democratic candidate Joe Donnelly had a good chance at wining the seat. Lugar drew support from members of both parties, but Mourdock's tea-party background divided Indiana voters along party lines.[9]
On October 23, 2012, in a debate against opponent Joe Donnelly, Mourdock, asked about his stance on abortion in the case of rape or incest, said "I struggled with it myself for a long time, but I came to realize that life is that gift from God. And, I think, even when life begins in that horrible situation of rape, that it is something that God intended to happen."[10] This remark caused New Hampshire Republican senator Kelly Ayotte to withdraw her support of Mourdock and cancel her plans to campaign for him in the final weeks before the election.[11]
An October 2012 article in The Daily named Mourdock one of the 20 worst candidates in 2012.[12]
Election law violation
Mourdock's Senate campaign came under scrutiny after allegations that Mourdock's state campaign used funds to aid his federal U.S. Senate campaign, a violation of federal election law.[13] This came as the result of a legal analysis conducted for the Lugar campaign and a complaint sent to the Federal Election Commission (FEC) by former Rushville, Indiana mayor and former Rush County Republican Chairman John McCane.[13]
The complaint stated that Mourdock "accessed voter information through his state committee, transferred the information to his federal committee and then used the information to send mass communications to voters through his federal committee."[13] Mourdock's state campaign accessed the information through the Party's computer database in January 2011, then transferred the information to his federal Senate campaign in February 2011 at time of his candidacy announcement to communicate with mass numbers of voters, and continued to use the information.[13]
Federal law specifically prohibits "transfers of funds or assets from a candidate's campaign committee or account for a non-federal election to his or her principal campaign committee or other authorized committee for a federal election."[13]
Push for bipartisanship
In the run-up to the election, many Republicans were trying to show that they were bipartisan and willing to work with Democrats. Mourdock tried to soften his position towards bipartisanship and show that he would be willing to work with Democrats. In a poll conducted by the New York Times and CBS news, results found that nearly 44 percent of Americans blamed Republicans for the deadlock in Congress. Republicans in 2012 tried to hold on to their districts by showing themselves to be more bipartisan.[14]
Endorsements
The Club for Growth endorsed Mourdock over incumbent Richard Lugar on February 14, 2012.[15][16] The National Rifle Association endorsed Mourdock over incumbent Richard Lugar are on March 7, 2012.[17] Indiana's Tea Party also endorsed Mourdock.[18] Indiana's Tea Party has also endorsed Mourdock.[19] The Family Research Council PAC endorsed Mourdock on January 31, 2012.[20]
Mourdock received an endorsement from the Gun Owners of America Political Victory Fund (dead link).[21]
Sarah Palin announced her endorsement of Mourdock over incumbent Senator Richard Lugar on April 27, 2012.[22]
On May 2, 2012 Mourdock received endorsements from Representative Michele Bachmann and Grover Norquist, of Americans for Tax Reform.[23]
Super PACs
According to information compiled by Center for Responsive Politics, as of May 7, 2012 super PACs spent approximately $2.5 million in the race between incumbent Richard Lugar and Mourdock.[24]
Information from the Center for Public Integrity showed that Super PACs and other outside groups were on track to spend more on challenger Mourdock in his campaign to unseat Lugar than Mourdock’s own campaign.[25] As of the most recent campaign filings available to the Federal Election Commission (FEC) prior to the primary election on May 8, outside groups supportive of Mourdock had spent "about $3 million, $1 million more than Mourdock’s own campaign."[25]
Polls
2012
| U.S. Senate in Indiana, General election candidates | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Poll | Richard Mourdock | Joe Donnelly | Other candidate | Undecided | Margin of Error | Sample Size | |||||||||||||
| Garin-Hart-Yang Research Group August 9-12, 2012 | 43% | 45% | 0% | 12% | +/-4 | 601 | |||||||||||||
| Rasmussen Reports July 31-August 1, 2012 | 42% | 40% | 3% | 15% | +/-5 | 400 | |||||||||||||
| Note: A "0%" finding means the candidate was not a part of the poll. The polls above may not reflect all polls that have been conducted in this race. Those displayed are a random sampling chosen by Ballotpedia staff. If you would like to nominate another poll for inclusion in the table, send an email to [email protected] | |||||||||||||||||||
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
Personal
Note: Please contact us if the personal information below requires an update.
Mourdock and his wife, Marilyn, live in Darmstadt, Indiana.[6]
Recent news
This section links to a Google news search for the term "Richard + Mourdock + Indiana + Treasurer"
See also
External links
- Richard Mourdock campaign website
- Biography from Project Vote Smart
- Campaign contributions: 2012, 2010, 2008, 2006, 2002
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Indianapolis Star, "Richard Mourdock resigns as Indiana state treasurer," August 29, 2014
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 New York Times Caucus blog, "Indiana’s Lugar Loses Republican Senate Primary," May 8, 2012
- ↑ Politico, "2012 Election Map, Indiana"
- ↑ ‘’Indiana State Treasurer, “About the Treasurer,” accessed September 27, 2012
- ↑ ‘’Project Vote Smart, “Treasurer Richard E. Mourdock's Biography,” accessed September 27, 2012
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Richard Mourdock for Senate, "About Richard Mourdock" accessed February 13, 2012
- ↑ Indiana Secretary of State "2012 Official Primary Results"
- ↑ Daily Kos, "Libertarians provided the margin for Democrats and at least nine elections," November 15, 2012
- ↑ New York Times, "As Senate Race in Indiana Tightens, Candidates Seem to Move to Center" accessed October 22, 2012
- ↑ USA Today, " Mourdock stands by rape comment" accessed October 24, 2012
- ↑ Boston.com, "Ayotte cancels event with IN's Mourdock" accessed October 24, 2012
- ↑ The Daily, "The worst candidates of 2012," accessed October 29, 2012
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 13.4 Richard Lugar for Senate, "Mourdock Likely Violated Federal Election Law:State Treasurer's alleged "pillaging" of Indiana GOP database raises serious legal questions" accessed April 24, 2012
- ↑ The New York Times, "Some Republicans Try Out a New Campaign Theme: Bipartisanship," September 15, 2012
- ↑ Washington Post, "Sen. Richard Lugar next target of Club for Growth" accessed February 23, 2012
- ↑ National Review, "It’s Time to Bring Lugar Home" accessed February 23, 2012
- ↑ The Hill, "National Rifle Association will endorse Lugar challenger Wednesday" accessed March 8, 2012
- ↑ USA Today, "A look ahead to the key races in the Midwest in 2012" accessed March 12, 2012
- ↑ USA Today, "A look ahead to the key races in the Midwest in 2012" accessed March 12, 2012
- ↑ FRC Action, "FRC Action PAC endorses Richard Mourdock for U.S. Senate" accessed April 27, 2012
- ↑ Gun Owners of America Political Victory Fund, "Mourdock" accessed May 1, 2012 (dead link)
- ↑ Huffington Post, "Sarah Palin Endorses Richard Mourdock In Indiana U.S. Senate Primary" accessed April 27, 2012
- ↑ CNN Political Ticket, "Bachmann Norquist Endorse Mourdock" accessed May 3, 2012
- ↑ TP Muckraker, "Super PACs Already Spending Big On State Level Races," accessed May 8, 2012
- ↑ 25.0 25.1 iWatchNews, "Super PACs outspend favorite candidate in Indiana Senate race" accessed May 8, 2012
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Tim Berry (R) |
Indiana State Treasurer 2007 - 2014 |
Succeeded by Daniel Huge |
| |||||||||||||||||
