House winners paid record sums for victories

With the Democrats holding a 53-47 edge in the House of the state legislature, both parties threw money hand over fist into last fall's election.\nAccording to the Indiana Election Division, House candidates spent a total of $8 million, $1.3 million more than they did a year ago. \nA race for the 64th House seat in Vincennes figured prominently. \nState Rep. John Frenz, D-Vincennes, and Republican challenger Eric Holcomb spent a sum of $537,912.51.\nIt's believed to be a new record.\nEd Feigenbaum, publisher of the "Indiana Legislative Insight" newsletter, said it was $11,000 more than had previously been spent in a single race.\nThe record had been set in 1998, he said. State Sen. David Ford, R-Hartford City, and Democratic challenger Mark Townsend poured $526,168 into their District 19 contest.\nNeither Frenz nor Holcomb faced a primary opponent. According to their campaign finance reports, they each spent nearly $25 per vote. Frenz, a restaurant owner, won reelection with 55 percent of the vote.\n"This money just wasn't for my seat," Frenz said. "(House Speaker John Gregg, D-Sandorn) wanted to keep control of the House. He knew this race was important."\nThe Democrats maintained their majority margin in a redistricting year, which means they'll have an advantage in keeping control over the House for the next decade. And although Republicans control the state Senate, it allows them more control over how the lines for U.S. congressional districts are drawn. \nThe race cost so much, Feigenbaum said, because of the geographic area of the district, which spans five counties and both the Terre Haute and Evansville television markets. And, he said Democrats poured money into the race after they realized it was being targeted by Republicans. \n"Everybody sensed there was an opportunity on the Republican side," he said. "The Democrats had to do what they could to ensure that they won."\nThe Associated Press reported that Frenz's largest contributor was the Indiana House Democratic Caucus, which gave more than $143,000, including $40,000 after October. All in all, holding on to the seat cost him more than $294,000, a fact of which he is "not proud." \nMuch of the spending was in-kind, meaning that lobbyist groups bought up ads on his behalf.\n"I have no say," Frenz said. "I have to report that, even though I had no say on how it was spent." \nFrenz received $65,000 from the Indiana State Teachers Association, a union that spent more than $1 million on the election, according to the election division. The rest of his contributions came from groups as varied as steelworkers' unions and the National Rifle Association, according to the Associated Press.\nHolcomb, an aide to U.S. Rep. John Hostettler, received nearly $100,000 from House Republicans and $75,000 from the Indiana Chamber of Commerce, a business interest group, according to the Associated Press.\n"It's ludicrous that a race costs half a million dollars just to have people's concerns addressed in the statehouse," he said.\nHolcomb would now like to see campaign finance reform taken up in the statehouse, an issue he and Frenz agreed on during the campaign. Specifically, he said he'd like to see mandatory debates in every county, relieving candidates of having to buy so much radio and television time.\n"If we had newspapers and radio stations to step up and encourage candidates to debate, then we wouldn't need to spend so much," he said. "It concerns me when candidates refuse to debate the issues"