Is Richard “Dick” Lugar in trouble with his own party? If you talk with the 67 County Chairmen who have endorsed his opponent in the spring primary he is.
Richard Mourdock is the Indiana State Treasurer and a favorite of the conservative wing of the party that considers Lugar too much of a moderate. He is rated one of President Barack Obama’s favorite Republican Senators.
Lugar was first elected to the Senate in 1976 when he defeated then-U.S. Senator Vance Hartke. He has been so popular that in the 2006 election, the Democrats didn’t even run a candidate against him.
That was then and this is now. Lugar has been cool toward the Tea Party while Mourdock has embraced them.
All four Starke County Republican party officials have endorsed Mourdock, including party Chairperson Brenda Stanojevic. Stanojevic said yesterday that she has headed the party for seven years, and was involved in the party four additional years before taking over the reins. She has never met Senator Richard Lugar.
