Kerry and Allies-Organization, Indiana

Kerry-Edwards 2004, Inc. 
Chairman Mike Harmless
Elected a director of Crowe Group LLP, the holding company of top 10 U.S. public accounting and consulting firm Crowe Chizek and Company LLC, in July 2004.  Executive director of the Indiana Democratic Party, 1996-98.  Ran for Congress in Indiana's 7th CD in 1994.  Mayor of Greencastle (in West Central Indiana; home of DePauw University), 1988-95.  Graduate of West Point. 
 
 
Coordinator Erin Rosenberg
2004 graduate of Indiana University, took off a semester from law school at IUPUI to work on the campaign for the last four months. 
 
At the request of Sen. Evan Bayh, Mike Harmless agreed to head up Kerry's efforts in the state.  The first noteworthy event was a fundraiser with Sen. Kerry at the home of Mel Simon, co-owner of the Pacers basketball team, in Carmel (just North of Indianapolis) in Spring 2003 (end of April or early May), that raised about $65,000.  Harmless faced the challenge of getting Kerry qualified for the May 2004 primary ballot; this required signatures of 500 registered voters from each of Indiana's nine congressional districts, or at least 4,500 signatures.  Harmless described this as "the hardest thing" he has done in politics.  As it turned out by May 4, the race for the nomination had been settled, and Kerry obtained over 70 percent of the vote in the primary.  Harmless worked to ensure a diverse delegation went to the convention in Boston.  Volunteer Kyle Cox, a '97 graduate of Indiana University, helped out for several months before going to work on the campaign in Florida.  Following Cox, Erin Rosenberg,  a 2004 graduate of Indiana University, took off a semester from law school at IUPUI to work on the campaign for the last four months.  Harmless said that at one point polls provided some optimism, but then the bottom started to fall out.  Nonetheless there was plenty of work to do such as voter registration, and reaching out to various constituencies including African-Americans, Latinos and labor unionists.  There were 100 to 150 committed volunteers who needed meaningful work.  In September volunteers started doing phone banking, calling into battleground states such as Ohio and Florida.  About 40 people were also making trips to Ohio.  (Dayton is about a 2 1/2 hour drive from Indianapolis and Columbus about 3 1/2 hours).
 
Indiana Democratic Party  |  One North Capitol  |  Indianapolis
State Chair Kipper (Kip) Tew
Attorney/lobbyist at Krieg DeVault, LLP.  Served as a paid advisor on the campaign staff of Indiana Gov. Frank O'Bannon.  Manager of Government Affairs at PSI Energy (now Cinergy).  Counsel to the Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles.  J.D. from Indiana University School of Law, 1989.  B.S. from Indiana University, 1984.
 
 
Executive Director Dan Parker
State director to Sen. Evan Bayh for three years.  Coordinated Mayor Bart Peterson's ground campaign and the elections of Indianapolis City-County Councilors, 1999.  Political director to Speaker John Gregg in the 1996 and 1998 elections, helping Indiana House Democrats win 11 new seats and re-capture a majority.  Involved in the Indiana Democratic Party since 1992.  Graduate of George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia.  Born in Braintree, Mass.
 
 
Political Director Joe L. Smith, Jr.
(Aug. 2004)  Attorney at Baker & Daniels in Indianapolis since 2003.  Served as an executive assistant to Gov. Frank O'Bannon and as the Governor’s Liaison for Minority Business Development, the Department of Transportation and the Lottery.  Compliance Officer for the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) in the U.S. Department of Labor; General Counsel for the Indiana Professional Standards Board; an attorney with UAW/General Motors Legal Services.  Bachelor's degree in economics from DePauw University, 1991; law degree from the Indiana University School of Law in Bloomington, 1995. 
 
 
Communications Director Terry Burns
(Feb. 2004) Burns came to the party after working 20 years in journalism, most recently as assistant city editor/government for the Indianapolis Star; previously he worked as reporter for the Times of Northwest Indiana

 

Copyright © 2004, 2005  Eric M. Appleman/Democracy in Action