You have to admit that as  far as politics go, last week was a giant roller coaster here in Indiana.  Let’s recap.

Mike Pence is out as a possible to challenger to Democrat Evan Bayh for the U.S. Senate.  Secretary of State Todd Rokita might get in the race or he might get in the race for the 6th Congressional District now that Steve Buyer is getting out.  

Buyer told reporters Friday he was getting out because of his wife’s health, but there’s speculation the federal government might be getting in to investigating his Frontier Foundation charity and that was the real reason he was getting out.

Meanwhile the four candidates for the U.S. Senate are staying in for now, but a couple may be getting out next month because they failed to gather enough signatures to get on the ballot.

We’ll also have a better idea this week of who’s staying in the 5th Congressional District race; campaign finance reports are due in tonight.

Marion County Prosecutor Carl Brizzi is out of sorts because of a news story that insinuated that he petitioned the court for an early release of a woman accused of murder because of campaign contributions by her father.  The money is back in the hands of the original donor.

Former Democratic State Representative David Orentlicher is out of the race for Marion County Prosecutor, and Mark Massa, former prosecutor and Governor Mitch Daniels chief counsel may be getting in.  He would replace Helen Marchal who got out this week.

Legislation that would change Indiana’s alcohol laws and require reimbursement for wholesalers who lose their supplier contracts to another company isn’t getting out of the House and although it’s still pending in the Senate, it’s odds don’t look to great getting out of there either.

An Indiana House panel wants to make sure sure kids in failing school districts can’t get out by forcing charter schools to petition parents and get 51% of the vote before they can set up shop in a school district.

And speaking of schools, IPS Superintendent Dr. Eugene White demonstrated he is out of his mind by accepting a pay raise while the parents of the school children in his district are just barely getting by.

Did you get all that?  I’m out.

It’s nice to be back after a day trip to the Land of Lincoln.  I had a few things waiting for me upon my return so I figured I’d share them with you.

Early Retirement?

There is talk this morning that an Indiana Congressman is going to announce his retirement today.  There’s no word on exactly who it is, however 4th District Congressman Steve Buyer does have an announcement this morning at IU hospital in Indianapolis.

Bar Wars V

Legislation in the House that would have changed the way alcohol is sold and distributed in Indiana all but died on the vine yesterday.  House Speaker Pat Bauer did not call down a bill for second reading which would have forced alcohol wholesalers to reimburse another wholesaler who lost its supplier contract to that  wholesaler.  Supporters say the bill was necessary to protect Hoosier jobs and wholesalers from predatory practices.  Opponents said the bill was a bailout for National Wine and Spirits and would have created a virtual monopoly for National and resulted in higher prices.  Sources say the Speaker was annoyed how the issue had gotten out of control and wanted to make it go away.  However, the legislation could still come back in the form of an amendment to another bill.

Yes, Massa

My very reliable sources are telling me that Marion County Democrats are scared to death of  Mark Massa, the General Counsel for Governor Mitch Daniels, running for County Prosecutor.   Incumbent Carl Brizzi is not seeking a third term and Helen Marchal dropped out of the race.  What worries Democrats is that Massa would have access to the Daniels political operation.   In 2008 , Barack Obama got nearly 100,000 more votes than John McCain in Marion County, however Mitch Daniels received about 50,000 more voters than Jill Long Thompson.

While most Marion County politicos were watching County Prosecutor Carl Brizzi not run for a third term and Helen Marchal announce her candidacy, there was some interesting movement on the Democratic side of the equation.

Candidate David Orentlicher filed paperwork showing he had more than $184,000 in cash on hand in his race for prosecutor.   Greg Bowes had about $4,500.   Party favorite Terry Curry had not filed yet, but campaign sources say his reports will likely show less than $80,000 on hand.   I called Curry’s campaign on Friday, but no one has gotten back with me.

Shortly after I posted this information on my blog and Twitter feed, Democrat Terry Burns immediately jumped up to comment that most of Orentlicher’s money came from a handful of donors and those weren’t “real contributions.”   When I asked Orentlicher about that he told he had more than 125 donors.  Which is true, while there about six donors who gave Orentlicher $25,000 or more 99% of the rest of the donations were in the $75-$500 range.

In addition, the campaign finance experts I spoke with all said that Orentlicher’s fundraising puts him in a very strong position because by raising very large contributions he can show other donors that he can raise money and isn’t wasting anyone’s time.   Obviously he’s had an impact on the County party and is scaring someone, otherwise Burns (who won’t breathe unless Chairman Ed Treacy gives him permission) would not have chimed in so quickly on both my blog and Twitter feed.

Now I am not saying that Orentlicher even has a chance at winning slating, those cards were stacked a long time ago.   However, if he does decide to buck the party establishment and run his own race against the slate, his access to cash would make him an extremely formidable opponent.

Stay tuned.

The third time will not be a charm for Marion County Prosecutor Carl Brizzi.   Brizzi informed me a few moments ago that he would not seek a third term in office.

Running instead will be Brizzi’s Chief of Staff  Helen Marchal, who has spent 12 years in the office as a prosecutor.   She is resigning her job to avoid conflicts with the Hatch Act which forbids government employees from engaging in campaigning if their job is federally funded.

Brizzi did not say how much of a role his relationship with embattled financier Tim Durham played in his decision,  however prior to the Durham controversy he had told me he was leaning against running for a third term for family reasons.

The prosecutor’s office has put up a letter on its website saying he will not seek a third term.

I spoke to Marion County Prosecutor Carl Brizzi about his relationship with Tim Durham.  You can hear the interview here.  Brizzi  explains his relationship with Durham, the impact on his work as Prosecutor,  his role on the Board of Fair Financial, Durham’s notable lifestyle and Brizzi’s other finances.  We also talk about he will return any of Durham’s campaign contributions, whether the two have spoken since the FBI raid and whether Brizzi will run for re-election.