FWCS' Kevin Brown files as write-in for Indiana Super of Public Instruction

The News-Sentinel's Ashley Smith reports that Fort Wayne Community Schools Board member Kevin Brown is seeking the office of State Superintendent of Public Instruction as a write-in candidate. 

Mr. Brown would likely be drawing votes that might otherwise go to Democratic nominee Richard Wood, who was selected just two weeks ago at the Indiana Democratic Convention.  The Republican nominee is Tony Bennett.  Drs. Wood and Bennett have served as superintendents of local school corporations.

Mr. Brown is the nephew of Helen P. Brown and the cousin of Payne Brown, who both preceded him in service on the school board.   

Ms. Smith reports:

Brown, a Democrat, filed Monday to run as a write-in candidate in November[.]

[ ... ]

Brown, 50, who works as a contract administrator for Dana Holding Corp., said he didn’t feel the two candidates vying to replace Suellen Reed had the experience necessary.

“Neither one of the candidates have anything to do with a huge influx of minorities,” said Brown.

He said working with a diverse district has shown him how to deal with issues smaller communities Bennett and Wood represent don’t face.

[ ... ]

Brown, who was elected to the FWCS board in 2006, said his experience as an elected official gives him an edge, defining the office as a governing, not an administrative, one.

Brown, who has two years left on his term on the board, said he would resign if elected to the state post.

“Now I’ve got to get a hook so that people will remember (my name),” he said. “I’m looking forward to the challenge, and that’s what it is, a challenge.”

This can't be welcome news for Indiana Democrats who face the November election with a less than united base behind their gubernatorial nominee and questions being raised about what the response of their Attorney General nominee would be to Lake County corruption.  Mr. Brown may find that there will be some Democrats in Indianapolis who would like to provide him with a hook, just not the hook he's seeking.

More: Frost Illustrated profile.

Comments

[Jeff Pruitt]

His candidacy will likely have the same impact as a Waterman-Jehl ticket would on the gubernatorial race - none...

[John Good]

I have to agree with Jeff on this one. We're far more unified this year than you might believe.

Ed. note: Or that the current evidence might suggest, you could have written. I'm a fairly objective analyst of political data. What the Indiana Democrats have going for them this year is a well-organized, well-funded presidential candidate whose team recognizes that, historically, Indiana is much more of an even split in terms of party allegiance than the record of Republican presidential victories in the state suggests.

Yet, the Democrats are not yet fully unified behind Jill Long Thompson. This is not necessarily in evidence in Allen County, where Jill is well-known and well-liked among local Democrats who gave her 70% of the primary vote.

However, in central Indiana, there are still many Democrats who discount her chances to defeat the Governor for re-election. I tend to disagree with the analysis I have heard from some of the downstate Democrats with whom I have spoken; I think her chances are better than they think but she faces a formidable task made more difficult by her own campaign missteps and an unwillingness of some parts of the party structure who backed Mr. Schellinger to embrace her as the nominee.

The reason Jeff is right about Kevin Brown's impact on the Superintendent's race is that a write-in candidate - whether it is Mr. Brown or anyone else - will not receive more than a smidgen of votes. A permanent third party like the Libertarians which is printed on the ballot will garner 2% to 3%. A write-in candidate is asking the voter to: a) be aware of the name; b) have a substantial reason to prefer the candidate; and, c) acquaint the voter with how to even cast a write-in vote.

[Robert Enders]

So there! Even we can beat Kevin Brown!