Nearly 24 hours after the polls closed, Jim Schellinger conceded that he had lost the Democrat gubernatorial nomination to Jill Long Thompson following a roller-coaster night of election returns.
She has a slim but solid 7,000 vote-lead, according to the latest figures from the Associated Press, with just two precincts remaining to be counted in the state.
“We’re disappointed that we won’t get the chance to take on Mitch Daniels in November, but we wouldn’t trade the last 15 months for anything. It truly was an amazing journey for me and my entire family,” Schellinger said in a statement. “This was a hard-fought race that unfortunately was overshadowed by the presidential campaigns in Indiana.”
Schellinger called Long Thompson to offer congratulations around 4:15 p.m. Wednesday She had declared victory early in the day and was already gearing up for a fall faceoff with Republican incumbent Daniels.
“I expect this to be a very tough fight and I expect to win,” she said. “What’s most pleasing is he has been running ads for a long time and people aren’t buying it. Voters want more than a flannel shirt and a connoisseur of tenderloin.”
Cam Savage, spokesman for the Daniels campaign, sidestepped the folksy swipe to note that the governor was at an announcement Wednesday unveiling 125 new high-paying life sciences jobs.
“For the part we can control, we are going to remain as positive as we always have,” he said. “He will keep his front foot leaning toward the positive.”
Election night was wild for both Democratic candidates, with them taking turns in the lead until Lake County results put Long Thompson over the top. At one point the margin was just 609 votes.
“It was a little bit of a roller coaster,” she said, noting she stayed up later than usual but it was well worth it to win. “I was very optimistic northwest Indiana would go in my favor. But that’s not to say I wasn’t tense.”
Long Thompson told reporters Wednesday morning that she is certain party leaders will coalesce behind her candidacy because “we are very unified in our belief that we need to defeat Mitch Daniels.”
She dominated northern Indiana except for St. Joseph County – Schellinger’s home county – but will have to improve in central and southern Indiana to be competitive in November.
Tim Jeffers, campaign manager for Schellinger, said the race was too close early on to concede, but as the day went on and more precincts reported the gap widened and it was not possible to catch up.
He was extremely confused by the result in Lake County, where Schellinger received endorsements from all the mayors, the local newspapers and several state central committeemen.
“Obviously we’re very disappointed by whatever happened in Lake County,” Jeffers said. “You sort of have to wonder what happened.”
But Long Thompson said she traveled extensively in the area and voters found her to be an experienced Hoosier who could lead them in a new direction in terms of job creation and economic growth.
nkelly@jg.net
